


I'll Risk My Neck

by heartsdesire456



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Divorce, M/M, Parenthood, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-20
Updated: 2012-08-20
Packaged: 2017-11-12 12:55:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/491260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a while after the divorce, Gerard didn’t go out. When he did let Mikey talk him into going out with him just one time, he never imagined he would end up where he did the next morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Risk My Neck

**Author's Note:**

> So... this happened... idek *shrug*. It's a semi-canonical fic set a year into the future and I honestly have NO idea what the hell made me write this!
> 
> Originally posted [here](http://heartsdesire456.livejournal.com/930273.html) months ago.

For a while after the divorce, Gerard didn’t go out. They weren’t getting started on the next album, yet they had finished touring for the last one, so it was an awkward time even without going through a divorce. 

The only good thing about it all was that the divorce was amicable and he didn’t have to worry about fighting to see his child for the next fifteen years.

But as it was, he hadn’t been out in a long time. So when Mikey mentioned one of his old friends was having a party at their house and asked if he wanted to come with, Gerard took him up on the offer. He should’ve known, however, when Mikey said ‘an old friend’ but refused to say who, that it would’ve been Pete Wentz.

“Aw fuck, Mikey!” Gerard groaned as they climbed out of the car. “Really? Seriously?” he asked, giving him a flat look. “Last time I saw Pete Wentz, he reached the level of annoying that I _strangled him_ , do you remember that?”

Mikey grinned. “Yeah you did, didn’t you? Eh that was like… five years ago.”

Gerard shook his head as they headed to the door. “How do you even know this dude anymore? Who keeps in touch with people like that?”

“It’s called technology, Gerard,” Mikey said, rolling his eyes. “I do believe the last time I saw Gabe Saporta face to face was like… nine years ago and we had sex, but he’s still a good friend of mine!”

Gerard groaned. “Ew. I don’t want to be friends with anybody you ever had sex with-“

“Then you have no friends,” he teased, then frowned. “Well, Ray,” he appeased.

Gerard shot him a horrified look. “What about Frank?! Is there something I REALLY missed back when we were kids?!”

Mikey snorted. “Okay, we didn’t have _sex_ , but one night when we were living together, probably before you ever met him, we were high and one thing led to another-“

“I’m going to go kidnap Ray and go live in a private island and nobody else is allowed,” Gerard said with finality, shaking his head when Mikey knocked on the door with a smirk. Gerard just sighed as they both got sucked into the fray.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard hadn’t seen Pete at the party all night and they had been there a solid two hours. He ended up heading out back for a smoke before he found him. Gerard had just lit his cigarette, looking up at the moon through the smog, when he heard a shuffle and turned just in time to see Pete Wentz- asshole rockstar- tip a yellow shovel full of sand into a dump truck while sitting along the crosstie edge of a sand pit. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was high,” he said out loud before he could stop himself with a hand over his mouth.

Pete jumped, nearly falling out of the sandpit. “WHOA!” he cried as he righted himself, only to step on the dump truck and go flying. When he landed with a thump, Gerard hissed, but hurried over.

“Oh my God, are you okay?!” he asked, looking down at Pete, who blinked up at him. “Do you need help?”

Pete groaned but sat up, shaking his head as sand flew out of his hair. “Well that sucked,” he said, then smiled suddenly. “Holy shit, GeeWay!” he cried, only to hug Gerard’s leg rather than stand up. “I haven’t seen you… hell, since I fucked your brother-“

“Oh God, I’m going to kill you if you aren’t already dying of a brain hemorrhage,” Gerard groaned and Pete let out a loud, braying laugh.

“Sit with me!” he said, tugging Gerard’s knee so that he fell with a yelp.

“Hey! I’m fucking too old for that shit,” Gerard snapped, glaring as he rubbed his ass. “Fuck.”

Pete rolled his eyes. “You’re what, a year older than me? Two?” he asked and Gerard just shot him a flat, unamused look. “So, why’re you at my party?”

Gerard took a drag of his cigarette, digging a hole in the sand with his toe. “Mikey dragged me out. Said I’d been wallowing long enough.”

Pete suddenly cringed. “Oh shit, that’s right. Fuck I’m sorry man,” he said, patting his knee. “I know the feeling so I really am sorry.”

Gerard shrugged with a small smile. “It’s not so bad. Nothing like yours, from what I hear,” he said. He took another drag and exhaled slowly. “So, if this is your party, why is our host playing in a sandbox?” he asked, biting back a grin.

Pete sighed, pouting some. “I miss my kid,” he admitted openly. He shrugged, glancing back at the house. “I thought I’d ignore it with a party but if anything I just feel more alone in a room full of people who just don’t get it.”

Gerard smiled sadly. “I know the feeling,” he reciprocated, and Pete gave him a small grin.

“I get him back this weekend though, so that’s cool,” he said, then shrugged. “I don’t know, I just haven’t gotten used to this change,” he said, then leaned on one knee, straightening the other leg. “Okay so I don’t know how things are for you, but when Ashlee dropped the bomb on me, at first she wanted primary custody, then she finally relaxed to joint custody with primary physical custody. But even then, like… after a month or two, before the divorce was even done, she started getting him less and less and for a good year I had him most of the time. Even if she _legally_ had primary physical custody he lived more with me than her.” He shrugged. “But then like… this last year she gets him more and more. Her sister being a mom made her all motherly sort of- or at least feel like she needed to be a mom more, so she takes him so much more often and it _sucks_ ,” he sighed. 

Gerard cringed. “Man, I’m sorry,” he said genuinely. “I get Bandit next week and I’ve got her for a while. Lin is going on tour for a solid five months so I’ve got her all to myself for a while.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry for you,” he said earnestly, grabbing Pete’s hand with a wide eyed, genuine look. “I mean, Mikey told me how even the divorce was sprung on you. And I’ve heard enough people talk about how much you love your kid.”

Pete smiled brightly. “Well of course I do. He’s my son.” Gerard chuckled. “So what about you?” he asked. “I mean, my wife didn’t give me any warning before filing for divorce. I mean, she’d been sort of distant but I just figured she was in a mood. I was planning a family vacation and then BAM! Divorce papers. How did it happen because I remember all the stories about you getting married, man. I really think everybody in the world was sure you guys were in it forever,” he said apologetically.

Gerard laughed softly. “Yeah, we did too then.” He shrugged. “I don’t know, it wasn’t a bomb dropped or anything. I mean, it SHOULD have been, but it was like I didn’t know anything was wrong until it was and then it was clear that we missed a _lot_.” He waved his hand, stubbing out his cigarette butt before sticking it in his pocket so he didn’t drop it in the sandbox. “When we got together and got married, it was all so fast. We were so happy and in love we just jumped into it. We had Bandit two years later and it was still just as happy and shit.” He tilted his head. “But then about a year ago, I guess, I didn’t know it then, but I can pinpoint about then as when I started to just… not really feel the passion anymore,” he admitted. “And Lin, she says it was about the same. We never fought and it wasn’t a big breakup. We’d probably still be married and content with what we had if she hadn’t met someone,” he said and Pete cringed.

“Ew, cheated on you?”

Gerard laughed, shaking his head. “That’s the best part though. She didn’t.” He sighed. “She fell in love with another woman-“ Pete cocked an eyebrow at him. “I know right?! She’s awesome like that though,” he said, then smiled sadly. “But yeah, she met a girl, and she realized she didn’t love me anymore and probably never loved me the way she should have. She told me. She admitted she was in love with another person and it hurt like fuck to end it, but I couldn’t stop her, you know?” He shrugged innocently. “I can’t- I’d be a douche to fight to keep her when she could be happier with the girl she loved. And she is,” he urged. “They’re together. They’re happy. She’s going on tour with Lin and I guess the fact it doesn’t hurt too badly is proof we weren’t right from the start.” He flinched, looking down. “I just feel so bad for doing this to Bandit, you know?”

Pete groaned. “God yes. Every day I wish Ashlee had just… tried. I get it, she was too young to marry me and she wasn’t ready to be a wife and mother, but he deserves better. He doesn’t deserve a dad who is only really happy when he’s with me. He doesn’t deserve a mom who has a new boyfriend every month and a dad who isn’t really okay.”

Gerard frowned and eyed Pete’s profile. He saw the wrinkles and cringed. “You having problems?” he asked knowingly.

Pete sighed and looked up at the sky. “Same old.” He shrugged weakly. “Half the reason I can’t keep anybody. I’ve always sucked at not falling for girls who couldn’t handle my crazy. I’m not as bad as I could be, I’ve got something to keep me strong, but to be perfectly honest, I’m not that much more stable mentally than I ever was at my lowest point. I think my mental state stays the same, I just get new coping mechanisms.” He shrugged. “Well maybe not. Maybe it’s all just in my head.”

Gerard chuckled somewhat darkly. “That’s the problem, dude,” he said and Pete shot him a sly look. “I may not have half the problems you do, especially not anymore, but trust me. I know what it’s like to get lost in your head. I was just never really alone. Horrifyingly, my conscience sounds like Mikey and it’s probably why I made it through most of my twenties,” he admitted.

Pete chuckled. “He’s probably one of the reason I’m still here too, honestly,” he admitted. “I doubt he goes around telling everybody, but I text him whenever I’m down.” He smiled distantly as he looked across the yard. “You know, I think being in love with your brother for a good year is part of why I never had a second suicide attempt that year,” he admitted and Gerard cringed.

“I like to forget Mikey ever dated you,” he said and Pete smiled.

“Come on, let’s be real, other than how terrible we were for each other, you know I made him happy.” 

Gerard smiled reluctantly and rolled his eyes. “Well, I guess. And you know, as much as I joke about it, if he really did have some bearing in keeping you out of your head that soon after an attempt like that, I am really happy it worked,” he said, touching Pete’s shoulder. “Even if it’s totally not the same way, a lot of people seem to have the same reaction to Mikey as they do Xanax,” he said and Pete grinned widely.

“Cause your brother’s nuts, dude,” he teased. “Be real, growing up, you totally kept him alive didn’t you? You had to have,” he said, shaking his head. “Just last week he texted me to ask if out of date Advil would kill him.”

Gerard snorted. “He can _never_ reproduce,” he joked and Pete burst out laughing.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard wasn’t sure how it happened, but somehow he and Pete ended up spending the rest of the night side by side, sharing Gerard’s jacket as a pillow as they looked up at the stars and spoke in hushed voices. Somewhere around midnight they had started to both get deeper and more philosophic. Pete talked about his fears and Gerard talked about his dreams. They discussed anything and everything that came up.

Gerard yawned, glancing over at Pete, who was staring at the sky. “You know, you are surprisingly smart, Wentz,” Gerard surmised, smiling shyly when Pete turned to look at him.

Pete smiled back, biting his lip. “You’re surprisingly perfect, Way,” he admitted and Gerard rolled his eyes. “No, seriously.” Pete turned on his side a little angling his body towards Gerard. “You’re smart, you’re creative, you’re funny, you are pretty much the opposite of an asshole, and most of all you really get me,” he said and Gerard gave him a small grin.

“I just know where you’re coming from. We have different backgrounds, but the way you talk, we’ve got really similar thoughts and feelings on life in general.”

Pete nodded. “Yeah, exactly. It’s… something I never imagined existed,” he admitted earnestly. “Fuck, I mean… we’ve been friends years, how didn’t I know you were this incredible?” Pete whispered in amazement. 

Gerard felt this cheeks growing warm and ducked his eyes. “Pete, I’m no more amazing or whatever than you are an-“ Gerard was cut off as Pete’s lips captured his. Gerard’s eyes widened in shock before Pete moved and Gerard eyelids fluttered shut of his own accord. As Pete’s kiss grew more confident, Gerard shifted, reaching out some, not sure what he was looking for, only to find Pete’s hand. Their fingers scrabbled some before locking together. Pete pulled back with a soft ‘smack’ and looked at Gerard, who just stared, somewhat confused by the look in Pete’s eyes. 

Before he could react, however, Pete seemed to make up his mind and he once again descended up on Gerard, propping himself on his elbow as he cupped Gerard’s cheek in his hand, kissing him more firmly this time. Gerard moaned softly as Pete’s skilled tongue parted his lips. Gerard tilted his head and reached his own hand up to curl around Pete’s shoulder, pulling him down until he was practically on top of Gerard as the kiss deepened. 

Before either of them were able to really catch up with the situation, Gerard had pushed Pete onto his back and crawled half on top of him. Pete had one hand on Gerard’s ass and the other tangled in his hair as Gerard did his best to mark his throat. “Fuck, fuck, Gerard- Gerard wait,” he groaned and Gerard pulled away, whining as he rocked their hips together some. “Oh fuck,” Pete moaned.

“What? What Pete?” Gerard panted, kissing him again.

Pete pulled back. “Do- ya wanna- um, inside?” he asked and Gerard frowned. Pete chuckled. “I have a bed inside,” he said, giving Gerard a questioning look.

Gerard hesitated for a moment, but nodded. “Yeah, come on, motherfucker,” he said decisively, grinning as he scrambled to his feet as Pete climbed to his. “Wait, somebody will see.”

Pete rolled his eyes, pulling Gerard into a kiss. “It’s four in the morning, anybody still here is too wasted to notice or care,” he said, and Gerard gave Pete a filthy smirk that made his dick twitch in his pants.

Gerard didn’t say another word, he simply took Pete’s hand and pulled him to the door behind him. They made it to Pete’s room without anybody spotting them and, as soon as the door swung shut behind them, their clothes were off in seconds.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
For the first time in a long time, when Gerard woke up all he could think was _I wish I could blame this on being fucked up out of my mind_. He was alone in Pete’s bed when he sat up. He quickly climbed out of bed and started getting dressed. He had just buttoned his pants when Pete came in. “Oh hey, sorry I kinda abandoned you in here on your own,” he said, and Gerard glanced up.

“Nah man, it’s cool,” he said, tugging his shirt on.

Pete eyed him. “You know, I thought I remember you being fat?” he asked and Gerard rolled his eyes.

“Well I’ve still got love handles, I just got in shape in my old age,” he said, tugging on one shoe and then the other without sitting. “I-“

He jumped when Pete’s hands settled on his hips as soon as he was upright. “You look good,” he said, standing on his toes to kiss Gerard.

Gerard pulled away with a sigh. “Look, Wentz, it’s just that-“

“Oh.” Pete shrank back some, quickly fixing a smile on his face. “No, I get it.”

Gerard saw the flash of hurt before he did so though. “Fuck, Pete, no,” he said, and Pete shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest.

“No, I- I get it. Used to it even.” He shrugged, looking down at his feet. “I just… thought you weren’t like that,” he said in a slightly smaller voice.

Gerard groaned when Pete gave him a tiny glance before turning to walk out. “Fuck iiiit,” he whined, slapping a hand over his face. He grabbed his jacket off the floor and rushed after Pete. “Pete, look. I’m not, okay? I’m not like that. I never fuckin’ have been,” he said, following Pete into the kitchen. “Look-“

“I get it Gerard,” Pete said, turning to give him a somewhat frustrated look. “Seriously, I understand. I just… I don’t know, it seemed like there was something there so I let myself think… maybe.”

Gerard shook his head. “I know, Pete. I mean… yeah, there was a moment, fuck I don’t _do_ sleeping with someone spur of the moment like that! Clearly yeah, maybe there was, but look at it factually.” He walked over to give him a hopeful look. “Just last night, you basically admitted you need to chill for a while. You need to just… be on your own and straighten shit out.”

Pete just shook his head. “Gerard, seriously. You don’t have to try and fucking let me down or some shit. I _get it_ ,” he stressed.

Gerard shook his head. “Pete I’m not saying no,” he urged. He walked over and grabbed Pete’s hand. “I just… don’t know.”

Pete gave him a small, sad smile. “I know.”

Gerard looked into the big brown eyes trained on him and he couldn’t help but feel his heart break some from the sadness he saw in them. “Call me okay?” he said. “I’m serious.” He tugged at Pete’s hand. “Maybe, okay? I won’t say yes, I won’t say no. But maybe.”

Pete rolled his eyes and cracked a smile. “You’re so fucking _sincere_ , Way,” he teased and Gerard smiled. “Fine, whatever.” Pete stepped forward and kissed Gerard, who let him this time. Pete groaned and pulled Gerard closer by the collar of his jacket before pushing him back. “You seriously need to go before I say fuck talking and keep you.”

Gerard chuckled. “Seeing as I’m not sure I’m down with that, I’d say that’s not a good idea,” he said, then smiled at Pete. “Seriously though. Let’s talk okay?”

Pete nodded, smiling uneasily. “If there’s something there though… what are you thinking?”

Gerard groaned. “Fuck if I know. Seriously, I was married six months ago. I don’t know how the fuck to… do anything like this. It’s really not a good time.”

Pete nodded sadly. “I get it.”

Gerard sighed. “But seriously. Let’s talk.”

Pete smiled. “Sure. I’ll call you,” he said, and Gerard nodded, giving him a smile as he turned to leave.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard went straight to the kitchen when he got home, looking for coffee. He was surprised to see there was already some coffee made. “Mikey?” he called, hoping it wasn’t somebody broken into his house just to drink his coffee.

He had just poured himself a cup when Mikey ambled in, scratching at his head. “Dude, where were you last night?” Mikey asked, yawning. “I mean, I expected you to bail, but I got here and you weren’t here. I was starting to think I needed to call the cops.”

Gerard snorted. “I can see that headline. ‘Singer Gerard Way Missing: Brother Lost Him’,” he teased and Mikey flipped him off, sitting down. Gerard sat and groaned. “Fuck, I’m too old,” he whined and Mikey eyed him curiously.

“So, where were you?” he asked, and Gerard ducked his head. “No way!” Mikey said suddenly. Gerard glanced up, horrified as he found Mikey smirking. “You got picked up at a fucking party?! Haha! Who was she?” he asked and Gerard cringed.

“I um… I never left last night,” he admitted, scratching at his hair. It was getting pretty long again.

Mikey frowned. “So you didn’t get laid? Damn, I figured you’d grown a pair,” he said and Gerard groaned, letting his head fall to the table, careful of the strands of hair getting in his coffee. “… You did? Wait, I’m so confused,” Mikey said, shaking his head. “So, did you or didn’t you get back on the bike so soon? I was thinking my brother was finally a man-“

“Fucks sake, I slept with Wentz!” Gerard groaned, glaring at Mikey. “And really, ‘finally a man’?! Who says that?!” he asked, shaking his head.

Mikey scoffed, laughing. “You did not, I’m not that stupi-“ He stopped and his eyes widened in horror. “Oh my God I didn’t see you or Pete all night!” He shook his head. “No, no way, ewwww!”

Gerard laughed hollowly. “He’s… something else,” he said, sighing. “Fuck, man, I don’t know what happened.”

Mikey shook his head. “God, what the hell, you don’t _do_ random sex with friends, dude. What happened?” 

Gerard snorted. “Fuck if I know,” he said honestly. He drank some coffee and sighed, looking down at his cup. “We got to talking. I went out to smoke and found him fucking playing in a sandbox-“ Mikey snickered. “And we started talking and… didn’t _stop_. It was like… fuck, a few hours before _dawn_ when we were looking at the moon and laying there talking and somehow we kissed and we started… making out, I guess,” he said, making a face. “And you know… we ended up in his bedroom.”

Mikey made a face. “What the hell did you two talk about for so long? I mean, I know you can go on for hours when you get to talking, but Pete gets bored fast.”

Gerard smiled. “Fuck, everything? I never knew he’s so _smart_. Or messed up,” he said, giving Mikey a look. “Fuck, he’s _seriously_ not okay, dude.”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Well yeah? He never has been.”

Gerard shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess I just… got him? At least he says I do. Said nobody else has ever understood him like I did-“

“Ohhh that’s not good,” Mikey said suddenly, sighing. “Oh fuck, Gerard. So not good.”

Gerard frowned. “Why?”

Mikey snorted. “Gerard, Pete’s biggest dream in life is for somebody to understand him. Sure, usually it takes longer than a few hours to get the ‘you understand me’ from Pete, but that’s basically the last words before he starts to like… get obsessed,” he explained. “Everybody he’s ever been ‘in love’ with, that’s how it started. They were friends, then they made him feel like they understood him, and he starts feeling normal, and then he thinks it’s love because he feels like he fits with somebody finally. And then when it comes out that they don’t really get him, they do like I did… get sorta uneasy about the whole thing and leave him.” He shrugged. “Nobody ever means to make Pete fall for them, he just does.”

Gerard frowned. “That’s so sad,” he said softly, looking down at his mug. “Why though? I mean… if they get him, why would they do that do him?”

Mikey snorted. “Because nobody gets him, Gee. Fuck, I’m not exactly the least fucked up person in the world and even _I_ wonder how he’s alive most of the time we get to really talking.” He shrugged. “Pete’s dependent. He latches onto someone but eventually, everybody changes. Life happens. Shit gets in the way. And when they start to grow apart, it hurts him _bad_. I feel bad for him, really. He’s never going to find anybody who really understand what it’s like in his mind. Hell, I doubt very many people who know what he lives like every day make it to thirty,” he said with a sad shrug.

Gerard eyed his coffee. “I don’t know, Mikey.” He looked up. “I think he’s stronger than you figure. Anybody figures. He’s… he talks like a fighter. He’s too defiant to give up again. He just doesn’t seem like he’s that weak.”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “I’ve talked with the man at least weekly for the last eight years, Gee. You slept with him one night. Trust me on this,” he said, smirking as he stood up. “My brother. Sleeping with my ex-“

“Oh God, not that, anything but that,” Gerard whined, covering his eyes. “It’s soooo wrong.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard was settled into his favorite chair, writing, when his phone rang. If someone called it was almost always his mom so he didn’t bother to check the screen as he answered. “Hi mom.”

“Well hi son! You sure sound a hell of a lot older than I remember. And magically from New Jersey. And I didn’t give birth, I have a penis.” Gerard laughed and rolled his eyes.

“Hey Pete. Sorry, I don’t check the screen. My mom calls and everybody else texts,” he admitted, scribbling on the corner of his notebook. “So hi.”

Pete laughed softly. “Hi. So, I just realized something,” he said and Gerard raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you even actually did dudes. I mean, I should’ve thought about that before we even kissed the other night.”

Gerard chuckled. “Yeah man. I’m bisexual, doesn’t everybody know that? I mean, even publically.”

Pete snorted. “I thought it was all just for show. Wait… does that mean you and Frank-“

Gerard cut him off with a groan. “Way just for show. Seriously totally just for show. He’s like a fuckin’ brother to me. I can kiss him and shit but the idea of anything sexual with Frank is just ew.” He shrugged. “Although he’s for real bisexual too. He’s just always been with his lady. Like, they’ve been together longer than I’ve known him.” He snickered. “I wish I could say the same about you, but you fucked my brother for a few months years back.”

Pete laughed his loud, braying laugh that Gerard was starting to not find that annoying. “If it makes you feel better, you’re a much better kisser-“

“Ew, that really doesn’t help,” Gerard groaned.

“Well what if I told you your dick is bigger?” Pete asked and Gerard snickered.

“Thanks, but I know that one. I have lived with the kid most of his life. He may be taller, but I’ve got it where it counts,” Gerard said and Pete snorted.

“No, nobody would think you’re proud of your penis size,” Pete teased and Gerard laughed. 

“Hey, I may be a sensitive man, but I am a _man_.” He smiled and scribbled. “So, um, any particular reason you called?”

Pete chuckled. “I like to talk to people?” he offered and Gerard smiled. “I don’t know, maybe I wanted to talk about your dick?”

Gerard snickered. “Sure you did,” he said, then yawned. “Wanna hear about the story I’m writing?”

“You write stories?” Pete asked excitedly. “Like, or is it just the plot to a comic?”

“Most are, but sometimes I write short stories. I don’t really put them out though. Sometimes I make them into comics but I’ve got a lot I just give to Mikey to read to see if they’re any good. This one is about a little robot who doesn’t fit in cause he has human emotions,” Gerard explained. “The humans won’t accept him because he is a robot, but he has emotions so he doesn’t want to live with robots since they can’t feel like he does.”

Pete was quiet for a moment. “Holy shit… that’s deep, dude.”

Gerard laughed. “It’s kinda deep but it’s gonna be a feelgood, I think. I think he’s gonna get a little buddy.” He scribbled a little robot on the margins. “Maybe a little boy or something. Just a little friend who accepts him.

Pete hummed. “You should do it. And publish it as a children’s story.”

Gerard snorted. “I don’t have to capitalize on everything, Pete.”

“Psh, of course you don’t, I’m pretty fucking sure you’ve got your foot into about as many industries as I do,” Pete teased. “But really, I like making things. I guess I like to assume other people like to share their stuff they make like I do.”

Gerard hummed. “I don’t know, I guess I’m past needing people to approve of what I create.”

Pete chuckled weakly. “I don’t think I’ve ever really got there,” he admitted. “I’ll probably be seeking approval my whole life.”

“I just don’t get that from you,” Gerard assessed. “Like… you strike me as a ‘fuck you all’ type of person. You seem like you’re all about upsetting people.”

“Well, I am a pretty ‘fuck you’ as long as somebody thinks it’s cool. I don’t try to be, but I end up doing it,” he admitted weakly. “I’m not good on my own. I mean, you strike me as a dude who could stand alone in a crowd and not bat an eye, but I’d run and jump on whatever fucking side had the best startup package so fast it isn’t funny. I don’t do alone. I mean, there are some things I fight for, I guess, but I wouldn’t ever have to worry about being alone.”

Gerard chuckled. “That’s a side-effect of growing up popular. I know all about you being a jock in high school,” he teased and Pete laughed. “Seriously, it sucked THEN but as an adult I’ve come to realize growing up getting your ass kicked? Totally gives you tough skin once you get past being a whiny little bitch about it,” Gerard joked.

Pete snorted. “Dude, if I had got my ass kicked in high school I’d have never made it to twenty. I was a spoiled little rich kid and I still cut myself,” he admitted and Gerard was somewhat taken aback by how open Pete was.

“Fuck man, you did? Damn I knew it wasn’t good for you now but I figured when you were a kid you were probably okay,” Gerard said softly. “Hell man, I didn’t get really dangerous to myself until I mixed the depression in with all of my addictions,” he said, then snorted. “And a shitty relationship.”

Pete groaned. “There is my biggest problem man. I mean, sure I’m bipolar and clinically depressed, but it’s always the girls. Well, boys too, but I’ve never had sex with any dudes who didn’t have the last name Way-“

Gerard groaned. “Ew, fuck really?! You’re telling me you have only ever had sex with my brother and me and women? That’s so wrong.”

Pete let out a loud laugh. “Yeah dude. I mean, okay technically I guess letting dudes blow me counts, so a few more, but like… if you don’t count one-sided sex just girls and you two.”

Gerard just slid down and put his notebook over his face. “I feel dirty. It’s like indirect incest. I fucked my brothers ex!”

Pete snickered. “So come on. I’ll tell you about all the girls who fucked me up if you tell me about all of your shitty relationship,” he suggested and Gerard groaned.

“Pete, I get the feeling you whored your way across the Midwest. We’d be here for _hours_ -“

“Hey!” Pete argued, laughing through his contempt. “Like you’re probably any better! I know that drill- ‘dark and mysterious’ and all that jazz-“

Gerard rolled his eyes. “Pete, even the internet tweens know how much of a dork I am. Hell, I’m cooler _now_ at thirty-six than I have ever been in my LIFE.”

Pete hummed. “Soooo how lame we talking? Lifetime low teens?” he asked and Gerard scoffed.

“Dude, we’re talking like… six people. Lifetime number,” he said. “And that’s counting art school. _Art school_ , Wentz. I was too weird for art students!”

Pete was quiet for a minute before he burst out giggling. “Holy shit, rock star Gerard Way, single digits at thirty-six years old!”

“Fuck you man, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, a wife, a girl in art school who I do not remember sleeping with but I woke up naked in her bed, so I guess I did, a hook up on tour with another singer, and then a hook up with you,” he listed.

Pete snickered. “Soooo weak man,” he said, then sighed. “So… was that a hook up? I mean… For one thing, neither of us were drunk, so that’s at least a third less than a hookup. And, you know…” Pete paused and Gerard bit his lip. “I’d… kinda… you know, like to maybe do it again. Possibly. I mean, maybe as more than just sex even. Possibly. I’m not like… coming onto you too hard, just putting it out there-“

Gerard sighed. “Pete, we have so much other stuff in the way. I mean, we can maybe try? A little at least. I just don’t know man. I mean, I was still married six months ago.”

“I know, I get that,” Pete said with understanding. “So. Other than me and other than your wife, give me some dirt,” he said. “Specifically, who was the singer you hooked up with on tour?!” he demanded excitedly.

Gerard rolled his eyes, sitting up some. “If this ends up on twitter I will rip off your dick and feed it to your dog,” he said and Pete made an excited giggle. Gerard rolled his eyes. “Okay so, Leeds in 2005, I was still new to sobriety, and I realized I’d probably never slept with a dude sober, and back then I was really good friends with Adam Lazarra-“

“NO WAY!” Pete gasped. “Holy shit, you fucked Adam Lazarra?! Dude, he’s hot.”

Gerard laughed. “Yeah, totally. I mean, it was just a hook up, but it was fun. First time I had sex with a man sober and clean. It was cool.”

Pete was quiet for a minute and Gerard almost thought he had dropped the call before Pete spoke. “I know you were in love with your ex-wife, but have you ever been in love with a man? I mean, I would fall in and out of love like most twelve year olds have crushes, and every one was just as all-consuming as the loves that lasted a while. I’ve been in love with so many people and I think only three of them I ever actually slept with,” he admitted.

Gerard cringed. “Yeah, I was. The boyfriend. I loved that motherfucker like I have only loved two people,” he admitted softly. “It was a really terrible relationship for me. I was in a horrible place in my life. I was dying, basically, but even through all the shit… the drugs, the depression, the booze… even if I only have patched together memories of that time in my life, I loved him. Leaving him almost killed me, but I was going to end up killing myself if I stayed.”

Pete hummed. “Was that when you were really bad? I mean, I didn’t know you then. And you guys didn’t know me yet when I was really bad, but I remember enough from late night talks with Mikey to figure you were almost as far gone as I was. Only it was drugs, not your thoughts that were killing you.”

Gerard cringed. “I will say this. I’m not preaching sainthood to everybody, but no matter how bad I was drinking all the time, the drugs were just fucked up,” he said honestly. He took a shaky breath since he hadn’t addressed his past addictions in a long time. “I was a borderline alcoholic by the time I graduated high school. I hid enough liquor in my room for all my friends. We’d sit around drinking and smoking pot and playing Nintendo and we weren’t bad kids. I mean, hell I wasn’t the one sneaking out to hook up with girls, that was Mikey,” he joked. “But college… it was hard. I got a little better for a little while. I had to drink less and stop smoking pot because my internships had random drug tests, and I got a little better. But then things drug on and on and on when I got a job.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes hard. “But then you know all the story about witnessing 9/11 from the ferry and all the shit about staring a band, but in the process of all that I got so hardcore depressed. I mean, you see shit like that, you get a feel for how insignificant you are and maybe it got my creative juices flowing and got me all intent on changing the world, but on the inside I was fighting a pretty bad depression. I got back on the meds I had skipped on since I was in high school and got addicted to my antidepressants. And it was just… down from there. It got a thousand times worse when my grandma died. I mean, I know the internet has all these theories about my problems, but the truth is a lot of them are spot on.”

Pete sighed. “I know what that’s like. I went between addicted to my meds and refusing to take them. And kinda like you said, my worst phase, the one that ended in hospitalization, that whole bout of depression started after the tsunami in Indonesia.”

Gerard cringed. “Shit man, the one that killed like… hundreds of thousands of people?” he asked, and Pete let out a dry laugh.

“It fucked me up. Like… so fucking many people killed in one day. It made me terrified of breathing almost. I’ve always had nightmares and I’ve never been able to sleep, and then it got so much worse. The guys were terrified I would go off the deep end so they like… took turns watching me. And I got a little better, we went home for Christmas and I did get a little better for a little while, but then I went four days without sleeping-“

“Holy fuck, at all?!” Gerard asked, dropping his pen in shock.

“Yeah man. I remember how many hours. I was awake for one hundred and six hours. I went for a drive, just to clear my head, but I was so sleepy but couldn’t sleep and my mind just kept telling me ‘if you drive into that tree, it’ll get quiet’ and shit like that.” Gerard just shook his head, staring at the notebook abandoned on his lap. “I pulled into a parking lot, just to try and calm down, but it got worse and worse. My thoughts were just… everywhere. Nothing but terrible shit. I imagined just… everything bad you can. I was in one of my periods of being in love with Patrick then and I’ve never told anybody what I’m about to say so DO NOT repeat it,” he said then paused. “I pulled out my phone to check the time cause the dash clock was wrong, and I hadn’t noticed the message he had sent me and it was about how he wasn’t going to be back for another week, he was staying with his girlfriend for a while, and like… I never told that part because it isn’t _that_ that made me do it, and I didn’t want anybody to make him think it was his fault, but that was what made me start thinking about how little I really mattered, you know? I mean, I was in love with Patrick about fifty times back then, but I realized he had a girlfriend who loved him. Mine had left me. I went through everybody I knew and they all either had a family or girlfriend or somebody and I had a family, but we weren’t close, you know? I just… something about the sleep deprivation got me to thinking and I was convinced nobody loved me and nobody would care and even our fans hated me a lot then, so I thought ‘well, maybe if I take enough pills, I’ll go to sleep’ and I knew it could kill me. I knew I would probably die if I took as many as I was thinking about, but if nobody missed me, then maybe it would be worth it-“

Gerard cringed. “So you did?” he asked, and Pete let out a shaky breath.

“I did. I took nearly the whole fucking bottle. At the time I told myself I didn’t want to die, I just didn’t care if I lived. Sleep was worth the risk of death. But I think eventually I came to realize that even in suicide, I was too much of a pussy to kill myself without convincing myself I wasn’t REALLY trying to do that. But I think ultimately, I did want to die that night. It was the sleep deprivation, man. I won’t even joke, there is nothing worse than sleep deprivation.”

Gerard bit his lip. “I was the opposite. I was never really awake. Even awake, I was drunk or high. For… fuck, at least for three solid years, there wasn’t a waking moment I wasn’t drunk. I was never really hung over because I didn’t stop drinking. I was drunk through the hangovers. I would drink until I passed out and then wake up and either drink more or pop more pills. I was just… out of it. And I realized when I got clean and sober I was hiding from the depression, but the cost man… if I am actually able to live the rest of my life on the organs I have, it will be a miracle. And I got addicted to everything,” he stressed. “I mean, I have a very addictive personality. I got to a point I could drink one or two socially after Bandit was born, I was happy, but since Lin left me, I’ve sworn off of that again because I’m so scared it’ll happen again. I remember Mikey sleeping on the floor beside my bunk because he was afraid I’d choke on my vomit in my sleep. I remember Frankie sleeping on the bathroom floor beside me when I was passed out at the toilet. I just… I think looking back I hate what I did to everybody else more than what I did to me.

Pete laughed. “Yeah, same here. I mean fuck, my mother thought I was dead. My mom, the woman who put me in the fucking world, thought I was _dead_.”

Gerard smiled sadly. “Yeah, mine never realized how bad it was. I was never home when it was bad and Mikey couldn’t tell her. She found out alright when I called her suicidal one night,” he said and Pete’s breath caught.

“Oh shit, you called your _mom_?” he hissed.

Gerard cringed. “I’d gotten into a fight with my boyfriend- actually fighting, like… he pushed me into a wall and I punched him in the face- and I was coming down off a pretty strong high. Fuck, I don’t even know what I was taking that night. It might’ve been the mixture of pills, cocaine, and booze, but the fall to earth was _terrible_ and I was standing on an overpass near a truck stop where the bus had stopped to refuel around two in the morning and I had climbed onto the K-Rail and was sitting on it crying and watching cars pass, smoking a cigarette and thinking about jumping. Hell, Mikey doesn’t even know this much,” he admitted weakly. “I called her. I called her and was crying and apologizing and I think she understood that I was fucked up, but she didn’t know I was thinking about jumping. She was just… trying to get me to give the phone to Mikey and I told her I was sorry for being a bad son and I loved her. Then I hung up. I found out from Mikey later that she called him in a panic because she thought I had either gotten mugged or accidentally overdosed or something. Nobody thought I was suicidal.”

Pete was quiet for a moment and Gerard sniffled, amazed that he had tears in his eyes from reliving a memory. “Fuck, you okay, Gerard?” Pete asked, and Gerard laughed.

“Yeah, I’m cool. But I never told Mikey this story even. I don’t think anybody knows about the overpass. I mean, later on when I started getting suicidal near the end it and got talked into quitting… everything. Then they knew because I told them I thought about it. I knew I needed their help. But this one? The overpass? Never told anybody. So you better fucking not talk,” he teased.

Pete laughed. “Dude I’m not telling anybody if you don’t tell anybody what all I said.” He paused and Gerard picked at his nail bed, both eager for and afraid of what Pete would say next. “What stopped you?” Pete asked and Gerard exhaled.

“My boyfriend. His bus had passed the overpass and he was awake, still coming down from the high and the fight and he saw somebody on the overpass. He didn’t know it was me, I was wearing all black and had my hood up, but the driver stopped and was going to call the cops and he decided he’d just… do what he could to stop whoever was going to jump.” Gerard snorted. “No idea what he thought he would do. Probably try and make them laugh.”

Pete whistled. “Damn. I bet that sucked for you. You guys had just beat each other’s asses and you were upset and _he_ was the one who saw you?” 

Gerard smiled at the memory. “Actually I don’t think I would’ve actually jumped at all, but he could’ve stopped me if I would have.” He closed his eyes. “He came running up the overpass and stopped about fifty feet away and was all ‘hey, whatever you’re thinking, don’t’ and I heard his voice and turned around and when he saw my face…” He shook his head. “Fuck he looked like someone had kicked him in the balls and ran over his dog or something. He just stared at me for a while and then just… he said ‘I’m sorry’. Like… I don’t know, I think he thought I was going to jump and he wanted me to hear it because as soon as those words were out, he said as fast as he could ‘I love you, Gerard’ and it broke my heart,” Gerard admitted. “I mean… I guess he wanted to know he said it to me before I died if I really was going to jump.”

“Wow… that sucks,” Pete said and Gerard laughed weakly.

“It worked though. I started crying harder and closed my eyes and put my face in my hands and when I moved them and opened my eyes he was straddling the K-rail beside me, facing me. He reached out and touched my cheek and I climbed back off the rail. He got down too and even as little as that fucker was, he caught me when my legs gave out and held me while I cried, right there on the side of a fucking overpass. He helped me back to the bus stop and when he kissed me goodbye when Ray got off the bus looking for me and saw us, he was crying too. We made up the next day, but I think he knew then that it was all gonna end soon.” Gerard sighed. “And I broke up with him when I decided to get clean. I broke up with him and we fought- really fought- again and he busted my lip and I gave him a black eye and that was it. I stopped that night. Didn’t speak to him ever again.”

Pete hummed. “And tell me something… was this the infamous ‘fight’ the little tweenies say happened between you and a certain nasty little rocker midget?” he asked and Gerard laughed.

“Yeah, my ex-boyfriend was Bert McCracken-“

“Ewww, great, I was worried about that. Now I need to go get checked for diseases-“

Gerard laughed, loud and shocked. “Fucker, I practice safe sex!”

Pete scoffed. “Bullshit. I’ve probably got contact herpes just from touching somebody who once touched Bert McCracken. I may very well have super-syphilis now because I breathed the same _air_ as you and you had sex with him. I could have Extra-AIDS-“

Gerard burst out laughing. “You are an asshole, motherfucker!” he choked out, doubling over. “Oh fuck, dude really, sooo totally clean-“

“Bullshit, Way. Eww I’m going to have to worry about my dick rotting off now-“

“You’re the former whore, Pete. Not me,” Gerard said and Pete laughed hard and loud.

“So?! Bert McCracken is dirtier than an Indonesian hooker! I could’ve fucked all of South America and have less diseases than you do just from kissing that dude,” he argued and Gerard rolled his eyes.

“You know you are the one that wanted to have sex again sometime. I’m very unlikely to fuck you after all the insults,” Gerard countered and Pete scoffed.

“Yeah, like I’m risking a second exposure now!” Gerard just rolled his eyes as Pete continued to list the diseases Gerard probably had.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard was bored as he sat on his bedroom floor, scribbling little useless drawings on the wall next to his bed. When he had bought the apartment after the divorce, giving Lindsey the house, he got one with white walls specifically so that he could draw on them when he was bored. He had just finished drawing the face of a little vampire with a Mohawk when his phone rang.

He picked it up and checked the caller ID, smiling when he saw it was Pete. “Hey Pete,” he said, fighting the part of him that lit up some. Since they had started talking on the phone and texting, Gerard had come to really like the guy. He was funny and interesting, but there was something else that really drew Gerard in.

“Gerard Way, I have a proposition for you!” Pete said brightly and Gerard chuckled.

“Does it involve propositioning me? Because if so, I must tell you, barring that night we hooked up, I am not a slut,” he teased.

Pete laughed. “Actually, I want you to come over for dinner!” he said and Gerard raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? And why should I do that?” he asked and Pete made an offended sound.

“Because you like food and the pleasure of my company! And I can offer you access to my espresso machine?” he offered and Gerard laughed.

“You’re nuts,” he said, then shook his head. “Well, not that I’m saying no, but why come over for dinner? I know we aren’t exactly average Joe’s, but you could at least pretend this wasn’t a thinly veiled attempt to get in my pants and take me out,” he said flirtatiously.

Pete sounded uneasy as he spoke again, which surprised Gerard some. “So… the thing is that well… fuck, okay, I know this is going to sound really creepy, I mean really since we’re not actually dating yet even- although you should know that is my goal, I’m into you really bad, Way- but I’ve got Bronx. And I kind of would like you to meet him. And have dinner with _us_.”

Gerard wasn’t sure whether Mikey was right, Pete was obsessed with him already, or if he was fucked himself because he wasn’t running. “Pete… you want me to meet your _kid_? After one fuck and a week talking to each other all day?” he asked curiously.

“Well it isn’t just that, you know?” Pete started. “You’re my friend. Even if all it ever ends up being was that one night and then ‘hey it was fun’, we’ve been friends for years. I may not talk to you all the time like I do some people, but I’ve always considered you a good guy. I wouldn’t invite a random person I met to meet my son a week after we hooked up and started talking, but you’re different. I _know_ you.”

Gerard smiled almost shyly, which he hadn’t been in _ages_. “God, you sure know how to sweet talk a guy,” he sighed, then giggled softly. “Ah fuck, why not?” he said in the end.

“Yay!” Pete cried and Gerard rolled his eyes. “Okay so, come around… is six okay? It’s kinda early but the Little Man crashes pretty early sometimes so I’d like to make sure he’s had a chance to meet you and all of us have dinner together and have plenty of time for him to crash afterwards.”

Gerard smiled. “Yeah, I’ve got nothing better to do. Should I bring anything? I mean… fuck, what do you get when you go eat dinner at a guy’s house and meet his son?” he asked, ruffling his hair in confusion.

Pete laughed softly. “Just bring your open mind because two Wentzes at once is a tough thing to withstand, I’m told.”

Gerard scoffed. “I lived in a van with Frank Iero. Trust me. You Wentzes can’t be that bad.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard greatly underestimated how Pete Wentz’s hyperactivity would translate into a small child. Almost as soon as Pete opened the door to greet him, there was a crash from somewhere in the house. Pete groaned and pulled out of the hug fast. “Bronx?! You okay, dude?” he called, walking back into the house. Gerard followed, and whistled when they came to the living room, only to find an entire box full of matchbox cars dumped on the floor.

Gerard found them with his eyes, but Pete found them with his feet. And then his back. “Oh shit, you okay?!” Gerard asked, then cringed. “I mean… shoot-“

“Oh no it’s shit alright,” Pete said, sitting up with a cringe as little metal cars dug into his ass. “Bronx, why?” he asked tiredly and Bronx gave him a big, wide eyed look.

“I was looking for the bat mobile,” he said and Gerard couldn’t help giggling at the way Pete tried to be angry but couldn’t.

Pete rolled his eyes and cracked a small smile. “Little man, you can’t just dump toy boxes, okay?” he said, then started shoving the cars into a pile with his feet. “Look, I want you to meet my friend Gerard,” he said, and Bronx seemed to notice the man behind his dad. “B, this is Gerard. Gerard, this is Bronx,” he said, squatting down beside Bronx. “What do we say?” he asked and Bronx turned a _huge_ smile on Gerard, one which Gerard knew quite well after all the years. 

“HI!” Bronx shouted, waving damn near violently. He ran over and stopped in front of Gerard. “I’m Bronx! You look like a girl!” he said and Pete gave Bronx an annoyed look from behind him.

Gerard snickered. “I’ve heard that, yeah,” he said, smiling down at the little boy. “But at least I’m a pretty one, right?” he teased and Bronx eyed him curiously.

“Better than daddy. He looks like a monkey-“

“Hey!” Pete whined, scooping Bronx up, which made the little boy squeal. “I’ll show you a monkey,” he said, tickling the boy as he carried him through the house upside down, smiling as he giggled. Gerard just grinned and followed them wordlessly.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
During dinner, Gerard barely got to speak to Pete because Bronx apparently had taken a liking to him, if the way he wouldn’t shut up was anything to go by. “And then daddy said girls are dumb and I said ‘nuh-uh, girls have long hair!’” he finished as though having long hair was the penultimate goal in life, next to becoming Batman. 

Pete snickered. “Gerard used to have long hair,” he said suddenly and Gerard rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I like it a more reasonable length _now_ ,” Gerard said, tugging at his shaggy but not long hair. “But it was down to my shoulders. If not longer,” he admitted.”

Bronx’s eyes got big. “Daddy! I want my hair down to my shoulders!” he said and Pete rolled his eyes.

“As curly as your hair is, B, if you had straight hair it would be down past your shoulders.” He smiled sadly. “But sorry little man, I don’t think your mom will want you having hair much longer than it is.”

Bronx huffed. “Mom’s dumb. She won’t let me play with the monsters you got me because she says I shouldn’t pretend to kill people,” he said and Pete snickered.

“Yeah, I know. And I probably shouldn’t let you watch movies where people get eaten, but… you’re my little dude,” he said and Bronx smiled brightly at his dad.

Gerard chuckled. “My kid is probably going to need therapy because we tried to keep her from watching shit she shouldn’t but then we sort of gave up because her mother and I both like some really messed up movies and we missed watching them whenever we wanted.”

Pete smiled. “Yeah, Bronx, Gerard’s daughter is about your age,” he said and Bronx smiled brightly.

“I’m this many!” he cried, holding up four little fingers.

Gerard smiled. “Yeah, my little girl is four too. Her name is Bandit.”

Bronx frowned. “Like a robber? Why is she named that?”

Gerard raised an eyebrow. “Well why are you named after a town?” he countered and Pete snickered.

“Cause B is a cool kid,” he said, and Bronx smiled as his dad high-fived him. Pete hummed. “I’ve never seen Bandit. What does she look like?” he asked curiously.

Gerard smiled brightly. “She looks kinda like me, really,” he said proudly. “She’s got big, hazel eyes and long, dark hair. I mean, you’ve seen Mikey un-dyed but my hair isn’t that light. It’s more like… dark brown. I’ve always dyed it since you’ve known me, either black or something else, but it’s dark brown and her is too. She’s pretty like her mom though.”

Pete snorted. “My natural hair is _gray_ now,” he said, whining. “I’m not even forty and I’m probably full on salt and pepper under the dye.”

Gerard snickered. “I don’t age, you do,” he teased and Pete flipped him off from behind Bronx so he didn’t see.

Pete smiled down at Bronx. “I had blonde hair as a little kid. Well, not this blonde, but sandy,” he explained, plucking at Bronx’s curls. “His mom is the one with the light hair but the curls are all me. I’m practically Jewish my hair is so curly,” he cracked and Gerard grinned.

“You should’ve grown a fro like Toro,” he said and Pete sighed dramatically.

“Nobody will ever have a fro like Toro. Hell, even Joe’s TrohFro wasn’t as impressive as Toro.”

Gerard giggled suddenly. “That’s a hell of a lot of Os,” he said and Pete grinned bright and happy.

“And this is why I like you,” he said boldly, making Gerard duck his eyes bashfully. “You’re as lame as me.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m lamer than anybody you know, Wentz,” Gerard said honestly and Bronx looked up.

“Daddy’s cool though!” he said, smiling at his dad. “My daddy’s the coolest person in the WORLD!” he boasted and Gerard smiled at the totally sappy look Pete got.

Pete stroked Bronx’s curls with a tender look that made Gerard’s insides twist a bit. “You’re the coolest little boy in the world too, Little Man.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Pete came back from putting Bronx to bed, Gerard smiled up at him from his spot on the couch. “That didn’t take long,” he said as Pete collapsed onto the couch beside him.

“Yeah, Bronx crashes fast. Like… one minute he’s the energizer bunny, the next he’s asleep on the nearest flat surface, even if that surface happens to be a wall,” he said and Gerard laughed.

“I like him, he’s adorable,” Gerard said, and Pete smiled softly.

“I hoped you would. I don’t know why but it’s like… even with my friends, when they don’t like being around me in dad mode, I don’t want to be around them as much. It’s weird, because I’m so not exactly super!dad. I just… like knowing they like all of me,” he admitted.

Gerard gave him a warm smile. “Well, I’m a dad too so I get it. Kids are important. They change everything. Friendships, relationships, they all change.”

Pete leaned over and laid his head on Gerard’s shoulder. “I probably owe the last two years to him. After Ashlee left me, I thought I wouldn’t be able to breathe anymore it hurt so bad. But no matter how bad it got, I knew Bronx needed me. Same with the girlfriend who left me last year. I feel like no matter what, everybody leaves me. My tattoo feels so true almost all the time,” he said, referring to the one which read ‘unlovable’. “But Bronx… he’s my baby. He will always love me. Even if he hates me one day, he’ll still love me at the same time. I know, I fought my parents tooth and nail and even when they shipped my ass off to bootcamp, I still loved them.” He smiled up at Gerard. “So even when he grows up and gets on with his life, he’ll still love me no matter what. I’ll never kill myself,” he stressed, looking into Gerard’s eyes. “I know that. No matter what, no matter how bad it gets, as long as my son is alive, there is nothing in the world that would make me think that was the right way to go. Never again.”

Gerard bit his lip. “I don’t get it,” he said uneasily, looking into the ever-pained eyes staring back at him. “You have…” Gerard shook his head. “You have the biggest heart. You have a huge heart and you care so much. You’re smart too. I just don’t get why people leave you,” he admitted. “I don’t understand. I mean, you’re such a good man, Pete Wentz. I don’t understand how anybody could hurt you without wanting to die,” he all but whispered. “And I know, okay? I have seen bad shit happen to the best people so I get that it happens. But you just… can’t catch a break it doesn’t seem like.”

Pete snorted. “That’s the worst part. People don’t mean to, Gerard. People genuinely care about me for a while, but then they get tired of me. It’s like the kitten you get for Christmas when you’re little. You love it, but then it grows into cat and suddenly you don’t give a damn anymore and it’s nothing but a burden. I feel like that’s me. I’m that kitten. People meet me, and they like me, then they get to know me, and then that’s it. They know me so I’m not interesting anymore.”

Gerard shook his head. “But why? Hell, Mikey told me you get obsessed and too attached, but I don’t understand how that’s’ a bad thing.” He snorted. “Hell, I don’t know, I’m fucking eccentric on the best of days, batshit crazy on the rest of them.” He snickered. “I’m a motherfucking millionaire rock star and yet my favorite things are _still_ the kind of shit that generally signifies ‘lives with mother and fifteen cats’ for middle aged men to like,” he pointed out. 

Pete grinned. “I like it though. You’re the new breed of rock star! Before, rock stars were judged by the amount of groupies they fucked and the number of times they accidentally overdosed, now it’s people like you that make it ‘cool’ to be weird. It’s like global revenge of the nerds with the kids who adore you!” he joked and Gerard cracked a smile.

“It’s always been revenge of the nerds, man. Name one super crazy rich billionaire that wasn’t a nerd? The popular kids end up in trailer parks, the nerds end up inventing Google,” he pointed out and Pete snickered.

“Hey, I ended up just as emo-famous as you and I _was_ the popular kid, not the geek in the basement,” he said, poking Gerard in the side.

Gerard smirked. “You were famous because you showed everybody your penis.”

Pete gave him an offended laugh. “Yeah, and you got famous for making out with boys-“

“You did too!” Gerard argued, grinning. “Admit it Wentz, you were a scene kid like my brother. I got famous for being an inspiration for weird kids everywhere,” he teased and Pete rolled his eyes.

“Your brother is the original scene kid. That fucker was a bigger slut than any of the girls with pink and black hair on MySpace-“

Gerard groaned. “Don’t remind me.” He sighed, leaning his head back against the cushions. “You know, I am pretty sure Mikey slept with Gabe Saporta before we were even in a band?”

Pete snickered. “Me and you are about the only musicians in the US who _haven’t_ slept with Gabe Saporta, dude. Gabe’s my homey, I couldn’t have had sex with him if my life depended on it, but I think even _Hurley_ has made out with him at least. He’s that convincing.”

Gerard snorted. “He smacked my ass and said it jiggled too much for him to ‘tap that’. The fucker actually refused to sleep with me because I was too fat.”

Pete grinned. “Everybody thinks I’m a picky bastard, but I like chubby dudes more than anything. You’re too solid now. I remember I used to jump on you and you squished,” he said, curling an arm around Gerard’s middle. “You’ve still got a little squish,” he said, poking Gerard’s side. “And dude. I love the guy however he comes, but Patrick? When he was about sixteen, he wasn’t _fat_ , but he had baby fluff still? God he was beautiful,” he sighed. “I think that’s the first time I fell in love with him-“

“Ew, when he was sixteen you’d have been what… in your mid-twenties?” Gerard asked, looking down at Pete.

Pete smirked. “I like ‘em young!” He grinned. “No dude, I like.. dated a fifteen year old after I fell in love with Patrick. She was hot-“

“Oh my God, you pervert!” Gerard groaned, slapping himself in the face. “I am snuggling with a pedophile.”

Pete smiled up at him. “We’re totally snuggling, aren’t we?” he asked, and Gerard smiled down at Pete, who was twisting so that his chin rested on Gerard’s chest. “You know… we could be kissing,” he said and Gerard just grinned.

“Trying to seduce me, huh?” Gerard teased and Pete shrugged.

“I’ll take what I can get,” he said softly, giving Gerard an innocent smile as he leaned up to kiss him. 

After a few minutes, Gerard pulled out of Pete’s arms. “Pete, I need go to home, it’s late.”

Pete gave him a small, hopeful smile and tugged on his hand. “Stay?” he asked and Gerard hesitated. “I’m not asking… for anything,” Pete said earnestly. “Just stay here. With me.”

Gerard bit his lip. “I’ve got to get up early, I’m meeting with the guys,” he tried but Pete just smiled.

“I get up early too. Just stay with me. I’m not trying to get in your pants, Gerard, I just don’t want you to leave yet,” he said, standing up. “We can go to sleep. Nothing but sleep. I just…” He ducked his head. “I feel comfortable with you,” he admitted sheepishly. He stepped closer and looked up at Gerard. “So Stay? Please?”

Gerard sighed and deflated. “You have the most incredibly huge puppy eyes _ever_ ,” he groaned and Pete grinned. “Seriously, I have about as much trouble saying no to you as I do my fuckin’ kid.”

“So… you’re staying?” Pete asked, and Gerard smiled, leaning down to kiss him as an answer. 

“ _Just_ sleep,” Gerard stressed and Pete beamed.

“Dude, I’m totally great with just sleeping. You’re really warm and shit. I may actually sleep some if you sleep beside me,” he said, and Gerard smiled sadly.

“Sure, Pete,” he said, squeezing his hand. “Let’s go to bed, okay? I do need to get up early.”

“Awesome!” Pete said, tugging Gerard into another kiss before turning to lead the way to his bedroom, fingers laced with Gerard’s.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Everybody looked up when Gerard finally got to Mikey’s house. “Hey, about damn time you show up,” Frank said and Mikey came in from the kitchen with a can of dr. pepper. “You’re hardly ever late.”

Gerard nodded. “Sorry guys,” he said, and Mikey eyed him curiously.

“Did you stop for coffee and not get me some too, fucker?” Mikey asked, and Gerard rolled his eyes, flopping down across the arms of Mikey’s big fluffy chair, which was Gerard’s favorite.

“I wish I had coffee, but I just got turned around a little,” he said and Frank frowned.

“What the fuck? You got lost coming to Mikey’s house? You come here like… every other _day_ ,” he said and Gerard shrugged, looking down at his nails.

“Came another way. Wasn’t sure how to get here not straight from my house,” he said, and Mikey suddenly narrowed his eyes at him.

“Where did you come from?” he asked, and Gerard sighed.

He knew it was no use denying it. “Just a friend’s house-“

“Early in the morning?” Frank asked suddenly, smirking. “Why Gerard! Were you getting _laid_?”

“Who’s getting laid?” Ray asked as he came in, falling onto the couch beside Mikey. “And why does it matter? The only ones of us having sex are married, which means there’s no reason that should be surprising.”

Mikey narrowed his eyes. “Gerard,” he prompted and Gerard sighed.

“I wasn’t getting laid, I just… had dinner with him and it was late so instead of go home, I stayed the night,” he said and Mikey sighed.

“I told you that was a really bad idea-“

“Fucks sake,” Frank interrupted. “What the hell?! Gerard has a secret dude and nobody but Mikey knows?!” he demanded, looking at Ray. “Did you know?”

Ray shook his head. “Nah man, I didn’t even know Gerard was dating again.” He looked at Gerard. “What’s his name?”

Gerard avoided everybody’s eyes. “So… Mikey you know how I told you it was just a one-time thing probably?”

Mikey just slapped himself in the face. “Gerard, I told you not to go down that path-“

“Well you know what? I sort of really like him, Mikey,” Gerard argued, crossing his arms. “He may be a little weird but he’s a lot deeper than I knew. W’ve talked about shit that we’ve never talked about with anybody before. He knows shit that _you_ don’t know, Mikey,” he stressed and Mikey looked up, eyes sharp.

“What?! I know everything-“

Gerard sighed. “You know more about me than anybody else, but there’s some stuff not even you know. There’s shit that only one other person knows. There’s shit _nobody_ but me knows. Hell, there’s shit now that only two other people know, but the point is, we can talk to each other in a way I’ve never been able to talk to anybody, okay?” he said and Mikey gave him a hurt look. Gerard rolled his eyes. “Don’t look at me that way, Mikes. You know you’re the one person I trust more than anything-“

“And when I said ‘don’t get involved, it will end bad’, you ignored me!” Mikey grumbled. “Look, it isn’t even the obvious ‘I know what I’m talking about’, it’s the fact that everybody gets sick of him eventually-“

“And I don’t _get that_ ,” Gerard argued. “I’m not saying it’s going to go anywhere, fuck I’m not even sure it’ll be more than that one time and then hanging out and being friends, but the fact of it is, I _like_ him.”

“I’m so confused,” Ray said in a small voice, and Frank reached over to nudge Gerard with his toes.

“What’s going on, Gee?” he asked and Gerard blushed.

“I’m kinda… I don’t know, maybe dating Pete Wentz?” he said and Ray’s jaw dropped.

Frank just snickered. “So wait… explain how this happened?” he asked, grinning evilly. “When have you _seen_ Pete Wentz since he was banging your brother-“

“Oh God, don’t remind me!” Gerard groaned, covering his face. “It’s so wrong. Sooooo wrong!”

“And since when do you hook up?” Frank added. “You like… are the most sexless motherfucker to exist. I mean, like… when we were young, you had less sex than _Ray_ and he turns pink whenever a girl smiles at him even now that he’s married and knows he doesn’t have to flirt back,” he said and Ray gave him an offended gasp. “I’ve never heard a rumor at all about you sleeping with anybody you weren’t dating or married to.”

Gerard rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t dating Adam Lazarra at Leeds that time,” he said and Mikey gave him a horrified look.

“WHAT?!” He counted on his fingers then made a face. “Oh my God, that was like… a year after _I_ had sex with Adam Lazarra!” he said and Gerard gaped.

“Ewwwwww, what the fuck?!” he cried and Frank cackled.

“Oh God, you have the same _type_!” he cried, giggling himself into a coughing fit.

Ray grinned suddenly. “I was the only one that knew he hooked up with Adam Lazarra?” he asked, and Frank rolled his eyes.

“You know everything, you don’t count!” he said pointedly. “And really, back to Pete Wentz, how did that even happen?”

Gerard shrugged. “Mikey convinced me I needed to go out so he took me to a party at Pete’s and I kinda skipped out to smoke and Pete was out there, and we started talking, and then next thing I know, it’s like… four in the morning or something and we’ve been laying there looking at the moon and talking since I got outside,” he said, then smirked. “And hey, the man can kiss,” he said and Frank mimed gagging.

“So wait, you did hook up with him right? Not just sappy, girly moonlit smoochin’?” he asked and Gerard grinned.

“Yeah, I forgot how much fun boys are,” he said with a smirk. 

Ray cringed. “Ewwww.”

Mikey sighed. “And I told him when he came back to his place and I was there _before him_ that Pete Wentz is bad news. There is a _reason_ nobody dates him for long,” he stressed and Gerard shrugged.

“What the fuck ever, he has issues. Hell, he may be the only person I’ve ever met with bigger problems than I’ve had in the past, but I get him so I can deal.” He shot Mikey a look as he crossed his arms beneath his head. “And no matter what you said about the words to run after being ‘you get me’ I actually _do_ get him, Mikey. I may not be anything fucked up like I was, but you don’t forget being about thirty seconds away from killing yourself,” he said darkly and Mikey flinched.

Ray paled some and Frank rolled his eyes. “Fucks sake, Gee, bring us all down, why don’t you?” he asked and Gerard smiled apologetically.

“Sorry guys, but seriously. I don’t know if we’re really dating or whatever, but I think so,” he said, shrugging. “I met his son last night,” he added and Ray whistled.

“Introducing you to his kid already?” he asked and Frank made a face.

“Maybe Mikey has a point-“

“Well it isn’t like there was any other way we could’ve got together anyways,” Gerard pointed out. “He shows off his kid to his friends and after it’s all said and done, we’ve been friends at least a little for years, you know? And like I said,” he started. “He just got his son over the weekend and he wanted to see me, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to send his kid back to his mom’s already or get somebody to watch him. And it is a good test as to whether or not I’m gonna flake out on him. If I had freaked and left early after meeting his kid, he would’ve known I wasn’t really that into him.”

Frank eyed him curiously. “And are you?”

Gerard shrugged. “I like him a lot, Frank. I won’t lie. I mean, I stayed the night and _just_ slept.” He looked down. “Well that and steal his clothes,” he said, tugging at the too-tight shirt he was wearing. He shrugged. “Although his kid told me I look like a girl,” he said and Frank cracked up.

“Oh my God, his _kid_ told you you look like a girl?!” He doubled over and Ray snickered.

“Well, we’re happy for you and your maybe-boyfriend and his devil-spawn,” he teased and Gerard flipped him off.

“Hey, his kid is adorable, he’s just fuckin’ filter-free. Like his dad,” he said with a fond smile.

Frank cooed. “Awwwww, Gerard has a _boyfriend_!” 

Gerard glared. “Bite me, motherfucker-AHHH NOT LITERALLY!” he cried when Frank pounced, snapping at his wrist menacingly. “AHHH HELP MIKEY!” 

Mikey and Ray just laughed from their spot on the couch while Frank and Gerard wrestled.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard smiled when he opened the door and found Pete standing there with two huge coffees. “Hey,” he said, leaning in to kiss Pete, who hummed against his lips. “Why’re you here?” he asked, yawning tiredly as he scratched at his hair.

Pete shrugged. “Gabe stole Bronx to take him to the beach and I thought I’d come see you?” he said and Gerard smiled.

“I was asleep,” he admitted, stepping back to let Pete in. He snagged the coffee Pete held out for him and drank from it deeply.

“Shit, it’s early for you, right?” Pete asked, looking at the clock on his phone.

Gerard snorted. “It’s eight in the morning. Of course it’s early,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Mmmmm, coffee’s good though,” he said and Pete smiled brightly. Gerard rolled his eyes. “Come back to bed with me?” he asked with a tired smile.

Pete nodded. “Sure,” he said, downing the rest of his coffee. Gerard grinned and gulped down his coffee, not caring how hot it was, on the way to the bedroom, trusting Pete to follow him.

They hadn’t seen each other since Gerard had dinner with Pete, but they had talked plenty. It had been a few days since Gerard had seen him, but as he crawled back into his still-warm bed, the sight of Pete kicking off his shoes and climbing in next to him was something that just felt _right_ to Gerard. “Hi,” he said softly, blinking sleepily at Pete.

Pete smiled and wiggled closer until Gerard could feel the warmth coming off of him, even if he wasn’t touching. “Hi back,” he said, looking over Gerard’s face. “You’re pretty when you’re sleepy,” he said, reaching out to touch Gerard’s cheek. “God, you look so young,” he said and Gerard grinned.

“I sold my soul, remember?” he said softly and Pete chuckled. Gerard closed his eyes, only to smile when he felt Pete shift and found Pete’s arm going around his waist. “Mmmm, you’re warm,” he mumbled, shifting without opening his eyes. “Sorry I’m not more awake,” Gerard mumbled against Pete’s shirt.

Pete shushed him, rubbing his back in slow, smoothing strokes. “I’m good like this,” Pete said, pressing his lips to Gerard’s head. Gerard tilted his head back to look up at Pete through sleep-hooded eyes, only to let them fall shut again when Pete pressed a kiss to his eyelid, then his nose, and then his lips. Gerard hummed sleepily, kissing him back sweetly. Sleepy or not, Gerard melted into Pete’s kisses. Pete let out a contented little sound as Gerard lapped into his mouth. Their lazy kisses got a little sloppy, but Gerard was half asleep and Pete was just happy to be there.

When Gerard’s eyelids started to flutter not from pleasure but from sleepiness, however, he broke their kisses. “Pete, I’m passing out,” he said and Pete chuckled, pecking his lips.

“Sleep then, Gee,” he said, and Gerard giggled.

“First person that wasn’t one of my guys that calls me ‘Gee’,” he said and Pete grinned.

“Can’t help it, picked it up from MikeyWay over the years.” He nuzzled Gerard’s hair. “Sleep my tired little vampire,” he said and Gerard let out a half-hearted snicker before slipping back into the waiting arms of sleep.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard was surprised to be startled awake by tapping at the door. He sat up, only to frown when Pete whined and rolled over. “St’pit nnng-rard,” he whined and Gerard felt a sappy smile slip across his face as Pete rolled back to blink up at him with tired brown eyes and a pout. “Why’d you move?” he asked and Gerard shushed him.

“Go back to sleep, Pete,” he said, leaning over to kiss him, only to squeak when Pete tugged him down on top of him.

“Mmm-nuh, stay here,” he said and Gerard rolled his eyes, working his way out of the headlock Pete had him in.

“Didn’t think you slept, fucker,” Gerard said, though his voice lacked an venom. He leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Sleep on, Pete. I just gotta see who’s here. Probably MikeyWay,” he said and Pete hummed, rolling over to smush his face into Gerard’s pillow as Gerard slid out of the way. He smiled at the way he found Pete staring at him when he turned to open the bedroom door. “Watching my ass, huh?” he asked and Pete grinned sleepily, nuzzling the pillow.

“What little ass you’ve got. Sure ain’t got one like me,” he said and Gerard smirked.

“Oh I know all about how much junk you got in your trunk, sugar,” he said, blowing him a kiss that made Pete smirk at him, eyes glimmering with the same spark Gerard felt.

“Mmmm run Mikey off and come back to bed. You can rediscover exactly what is in my pants,” he suggested and Gerard gave him a low, clearly interested chuckle as he turned and walked out, heading to answer the person who was knocking harder at the door.

“Coming, coming!” he shouted, rolling his eyes when he heard a bark of laughter from the bedroom. 

When Gerard got to the door and tugged it open, the words ‘go away, Mikey’ died on his lips when he was met by a delighted cry of ‘DADDY!’ and had forty pounds of child hit him like a missile. 

“Bandit! Don’t kill your dad!” 

Gerard caught his daughter and smiled down at her. “It’s okay, Lin, I got her,” he said, then beamed as he kissed Bandit’s cheek. “I’ve missed my girl,” he said, cuddling her closer before shifting her to his hip. “Hey Lin,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek to. “Fuck, you guys are early,” he said, only to have the silence in the conversation fall at exactly the wrong time.

“GERARD! MAKE MIKEY LEAVE FASTER AND COME BACK TO BED!”

Gerard flushed and cringed. Lindsay smirked at him suddenly. “Well, apparently early isn’t a good time for this,” she said and he groaned.

“No, I didn’t expect anybody else today but you guys, but-“

“Gee, come on, man, Mikey should be easy to get rid of, he’s skinny-“ Pete stopped abruptly, eyes flying open when Gerard turned just enough so that Pete could see the kid on his hip and the woman on the doorstep. “Oh shit,” he said, wincing when he glanced at the kid again. “I mean, shoot.”

Gerard sighed. “Um, Pete Wentz, Lindsay Bellato,” he said, gesturing between them. “I- they came early?” Gerard tried, shrugging helplessly at Pete.

Pete just fidgeted slightly, glancing down uncomfortably at the fact he was only wearing his tee-shirt and his boxer briefs. “Hi, I’m Gerard’s… friend,” he said and Lindsay smirked.

“Hi, I’m his ex. Aren’t you one of his brother’s exes?” she asked and Pete nodded awkwardly. “Got a type, huh?” he teased and Pete went comically wide-eyed.

“I’m just gonna…” Pete nodded back down the hall and Lindsay grinned evilly.

“Hey Bandit, why don’t you go get Mr. Pete to turn on the TV for you while I talk to your daddy,” she said, taking Bandit from Gerard to set on her feet.

Bandit smiled at Pete. “Hi! Come with me,” she said, grabbing his hand without a second glance. Pete shot Gerard a panicked look but let the little girl lead him through the house.

Gerard groaned. “Fuck, this is awkward as hell-“

“Sooooo, banging your brother’s ex, huh?” Lindsay teased and Gerard glared. She rolled her eyes. “No, really, it’s good to see you dating,” she said gently and Gerard sighed.

“I don’t know what the hell we’re doing,” he admitted. He pushed his hair back out of his face. “I am so fucking out of practice with… anything like this. Hell! I always have been,” he admitted and Lindsay snickered.

“True, think the only reason we ended up together was because I thought you were pretty and dragged you into a closet,” she said and Gerard snickered.

“That’s my point! I don’t _date_ , Lin,” he sighed. “Fuck, first person I ever slept with, I don’t remember it. Some girl in college. After that, the one girl I actually dated pretty much decided she liked me and I just didn’t argue because someone showed interest in me, and then after her it’s only been people grabbing me and deciding to drag me into closets. _Literally_ until Pete,” he said, thinking about how both Bert and that one hookup at Leeds both involved closets at the beginning. He sighed and looked at Lindsay. He was glad they were still friends and that they could put their past behind them. “I have no idea what to do here,” he admitted.

Lindsay gave him a sympathetic look. “You like him, right? I mean… clearly he was in your bed-“

Gerard groaned. “Fuck, we didn’t have sex. I swear you sleep with a man one time and suddenly thirty years of being a space-challenged cuddler are ignored,” he argued and she scoffed.

“You had that hot little fucker in your bed and WEREN’T fucking him?” she asked and he glared. “What?! I’d do him.”

“Lin!” he whined. “Fuck, okay like I told everybody else, we hooked up because something in our conversation made it feel right. I don’t know. We were just… being open and real and shit and somehow it ended in sex, but since then it’s just been talking and twice that’s led to sharing a bed and kissing and shit,” he said. “That’s it. Fuck, the last time we shared a bed, it was because I had dinner with him and his kid and he wanted me to stay the night.”

Lindsay smiled. “Well that’s good, you met his kid? It means he trusts you.”

Gerard shrugged. “He knows me. We’ve been friends for years, just not… like this.”

She sighed. “Gerard, you gotta grow some balls,” she said and he gave her and offended glare. “What?! Dude, you would be an old cat lady if Mikey let you be. And if you like him, date him!” She smiled at him. “Gerard, not everybody has to be something serious. Have some fun, man.”

He rolled his eyes. “Lin, anything would have to be serious. He has a kid, I have a kid- now I’m going to have Bandit all the time for a while. He wishes he had his kid all the time. Two fucking children says it has to be serious if it’s anything more than just… friends. That’s partially why there hasn’t been more sex. I’m somewhat terrified of fucking up if we do this… whatever we’ve got,” he said, shaking his head.

Lindsay rolled her eyes. “You didn’t look stressed when you opened the door to tell Mikey to leave, so clearly when it’s just you two, you aren’t afraid. Go with that, okay?” she asked, leaning up to kiss his forehead. “You deserve it.” She pulled back and grinned. “Now, I gotta say goodbye to Bandit because I have one hell of a flight to catch,” she said and Gerard smiled.

“Alright, get on in then,” he said, and she skipped past him.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Once Lindsay had left and Bandit was entertained, Gerard tugged Pete into the hall. “I’m so sorry,” he said and Pete shook his head.

“It’s okay. That was… awkward, but it’s cool,” he said, then smirked. “Anybody ever tell you your kid is a sassy ass like you?” he asked and Gerard rolled his eyes. “Seriously, she flips that hair like a true Way,” he joked and Gerard snickered.

“Fuck you, Wentz,” he said, leaning in to kiss him with a smack.

Pete smiled when he pulled back. “How about I go on home and let you guys get settled? I’m sure it won’t be but a few more hours before Gabe’s calling to unload my offspring back on me once again,” he said and Gerard sighed.

“Fuck, I want to see you again, I want to just… talk some more in person. But with both our kids, it’s going to be tough,” he said and Pete shrugged.

“I’m okay with phone calls,” he said, smiling. “I like you,” he said as if that was answer enough.

Gerard smiled, feeling like his heart was swelling. “I like you a lot too,” he agreed sheepishly. “Seriously though, sometime in a few days or so. We can like… I don’t know, plan something,” he said and Pete grinned.

“Something sounds better than nothing,” he said, giving Gerard one more kiss before he went to get his jeans and shoes in order to go home.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
It ended up being three weeks before they got to see each other again, although they still spoke most every day. They only got to get together then because Gerard decided to say ‘fuck it’ to the idea of seeing Pete without Bandit. He could’ve got Mikey to watch her, but he figured that it was probably better to just take her with him, since Mikey was notoriously bad about following any of the rules Gerard and Lindsay gave him regarding Bandit. 

On one memorable occasions, Gerard had come to pick her up only to find her and Mikey watching Jackass together. Mikey seemed oblivious as to why she might shouldn’t be watching it, too.

When Pete invited them to dinner Gerard figured it wouldn’t be so bad to take Bandit to Pete’s house as long as this time he actually left in time to go home at the end of the night. When they arrived, Gerard turned to Bandit. “Okay so, we’re going into somebody else’s house. What do we do?” he asked and she rolled her eyes (something he was somewhat convinced she had picked up from Mikey) and sighed, giving him a look like _he_ was the child. 

“Don’t be stupid,” she said flatly, as if it were common sense.

Gerard bit back a laugh at her attitude. “Watch it, Little Miss Priss,” he said warningly and she pouted.

“We don’t touch things. No running. Don’t put feet on the furniture. Don’t say ass-“

“Bandit!” Gerard cried and she gave him an innocent face.

“But it’s true! You’re not supposed to say ass around strangers!” she said and he groaned.

“Don’t say that word at all! Jesus, Bandit, you cannot say ugly words, people are going to think I’m a terrible parent,” he whined and she just smiled.

“You’re the best daddy!” she said brightly and he chuckled.

“Alright, alright, let’s just go in,” he said, getting out before coming around to take her out of her car seat.

When they got to the door, Gerard had barely rang the doorbell when Pete answered the door, shooing the dogs back away from it. “Hey!” he said brightly, stepping back to let them in. “Well hello,” he said, kneeling down to talk to Bandit. “I met you the other day,” he said and she smiled a familiar smile. “Hi, I’m Pete, but I think you probably remember.”

Gerard shook Bandit’s hand. “What do we say?” 

Bandit beamed. “Definitely not ass!” she said brightly and Pete snickered, biting his lip as he looked up at Gerard, who just groaned and slapped himself in the face. 

Pete just big back a giggle. “I was hoping for a ‘hi Pete’, but you are right,” he agreed. “Ass is not the best greeting.”

“Cool! Hey are you my daddy’s boyfriend?” Bandit asked right off and Gerard shot her a look.

“Where did you hear that?” he demanded and Bandit looked up at him.

“Mommy asked if your boyfriend had come to your house on the phone, but nobody but Uncle Mikey has come to the house. And this is mister Pete’s house so is he your boyfriend, Daddy?” she asked and Pete smiled at Gerard, who floundered.

“Well, maybe. He’s a really good friend for sure,” Pete said, standing up.

Gerard just gave him a helpless look and shrugged. Bandit tugged on his hand though. “Daddy, you should be his boyfriend so Uncle Mikey will stop calling you a loser,” she said and Gerard huffed.

“Uncle Mikey calls me a loser cause I don’t have a boyfriend?!” he asked and she nodded innocently. “That little asshole,” he grumbled and Bandit glared.

“Daddy! You aren’t supposed to say asshole either!” she said and Pete couldn’t hold in the laughter he’d hidden so far. 

“Oh God, come on, I need food before I laugh so hard I never eat again,” he said, leading them into the kitchen.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Bandit looked around during dinner and frowned at Pete. “Why do you have toys? Old people don’t play with toys,” she said, then made a face. “Well, mommy says so, but Uncle Mikey and Uncle Ray do,” she said and Gerard snickered.

“No, they play video games, grownups do that,” he said and she just looked back at Pete, waiting.

Pete chuckled. “They’re my son’s toys. Bronx is a little older than you,” he explained.

She looked around, clearly taking note of there not being another child. “Did you trade him for a goat?” she asked, and Pete raised an eyebrow at Gerard, who sighed.

“Mikey’s favorite threat,” he explained and Pete snickered.

“No, he’s just at his mom’s this week.”

Bandit hummed and put her little hand on her chin as she looked around. Gerard smiled at how adorable she was when she thought about something. “Boys are cool,” she said, nodding. “They play better games than girls. Mommy makes me go play with a group of other kids sometimes and the boys play fun games but they won’t let me play with them. The girls are stupid,” she said matter-of-factly.

Gerard snickered. “Bandit has _opinions_ on other little girls,” he explained to Pete, who grinned.

“I can tell,” he said, clearly amused. “Why are girls stupid?” he asked and she made a face.

“Not _all_ girls! I’m not stupid and mommy is cool, but those girls at my play group are stupid!” She gave Pete what could only really be explained as an exasperated look that Pete knew so well from her father’s face. “None of them know who Luke Skywalker is,” she said as if that was the most offensive thing a little girl of her age could ever not know.

Pete snickered. “You play with your daddy a lot don’t you?” he asked, shooting Gerard a sideways glance, and she nodded.

“AND! They told me my skeleton dress was stupid,” she said, actually throwing her hands up in the air. “And then when I punched Susie I got in trouble-“

Gerard snapped up his head. “When you did _what_?!” he demanded and she gave him wide-eyed look of innocence. 

“But Daddy-“

“Bandit Lee Way, answer me,” he said and she pouted dramatically.

“But she said skeletons were stupid and made all the other girls call my dress dumb! I told her I would hit her if she didn’t stop and she didn’t stop!” She tilted her head, giving him the sweetest look Pete had ever seen. “I _told her_ so she knew I would do it if she didn’t stop, all she had to do was stop-“

“Bandit, we do not _hit_ ,” Gerard groaned, slapping a hand over his eyes. “Why would you hit another little girl? Or anybody?!”

Pete just snickered. “Dude, your kid is a bigger badass than you,” he said under his breath so that only Gerard would hear.

Gerard just snorted and rolled his eyes. “No more hitting, Bandit. At all.” He groaned. “Did you get in trouble? I mean, do you even get to go to your play group anymore?” he asked and she suddenly looked very interested in her peas. He narrowed his eyes. “Bandit-“

“Susie’s eye was all blue and puffy and they told Mommy that her mommy didn’t want me there anymore,” she mumbled, but smiled suddenly. “But that’s okay! I don’t like play group, so it doesn’t matter!” She put down her fork. “Can I go play with the puppy now, Daddy?” she asked, and Gerard just nodded, watching her leave.

Gerard just groaned. “Oh my God, my child is a bully!” he grumbled and Pete patted his back.

“Hey, the way I see it, she was standing up for herself. Was it wrong? Probably, but at least you don’t have to worry about her being a victim,” he said softly and Gerard rolled his eyes.

“My four year old is too mature for her age as it is, somehow I don’t think that’s a problem I’ll have to worry about,” he said, making Pete grin.

“Better than me, I think I cried when I saw my shadow until I was six,” he admitted and Gerard snickered. 

“Really?” he asked and Pete nodded. Gerard just rolled his eyes and nudged Pete’s hand.

“So, other than her potty mouth, her violent tendencies, her low tolerance for bullshit, her unnatural maturity in conversation, and the fact that she’s got about as much sass as I do and as much smart-assitude as my brother, what do you think about my little one?” he asked and Pete smiled brightly.

“She’s a fucking mini-you, dude!” he said brightly. “She’s like… Gerard version two-point-oh! It’s adorable! I mean, she does have some of her mom’s characteristics in the face, but that’s your smile and eyes and definitely your sassy attitude.”

Gerard smiled. “She’s pretty like her mom but she does look like a good mixture of us both. And other than her mouth and her violence, apparently, she’s a really smart, sweet kid.” He chuckled. “Look at us, man. We’re middle aged, divorced dads. How seriously un-rock star is that of us?”

Pete smirked and leaned in to peck Gerard’s lips. “Making out with boys is still totally rock n’ roll,” he said, eyes fluttering shut when Gerard kissed him back. 

“True,” Gerard said, nipping at Pete’s bottom lip. “And it’s fun,” he said, tugging Pete back in so that he could kiss him some more, lapping into his mouth slowly as they sat side by side, listening to Bandit and the dogs running around in the next room.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Bandit had fallen asleep after running around with the dogs and Gerard determined it was probably time to go home when he glanced over from talking to Pete and spotted her flopped out on the floor asleep.

Pete smiled as Gerard turned back at the door, shifting Bandit’s sleeping form. “We had a great time tonight, Pete,” he said and Pete beamed.

“I like her. She’s crazy like you,” he said and Gerard snorted.

“Yeah, you have room to call anybody crazy,” he teased, leaning in to kiss Pete, careful of Bandit. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he promised and Pete nodded.

“Goodnight, Gerard.”

Gerard gave him a sweet smile that made Pete’s stomach twist. “Goodnight, Pete.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Pete was trying to tackle Bronx into a new shirt when Gabe ducked in. “Hey, Wentz!” He smirked and dangled a red ribbon through the door. “Somebody had some fun while the Wentzlet was away,” he said, winking at him.

Pete rolled his eyes. “Not exactly,” he said, then smiled. “Shit, looks like Bandit lost her ribbon,” he said, going to take it from Gabe. “I didn’t even notice it wasn’t in her hair when they left.”

Gabe frowned. “Who the fuck is Bandit? That’s one hell of a stripper name-“

Pete glared. “My maybe-boyfriend’s daughter you asshat,” he said with a glare. “Bastard,” he joked as he snagged the ribbon and folded it up to put in his pocket. “I’m sort of almost dating Gerard Way,” he said and Gabe hummed.’

“I used to bang his brother, I think,” he said, frowning. “I was really drunk most of the time but I think we had sex… we may have just passed out naked together, to be fair,” he said and Pete snickered.

“You did, he told me when I was dating him,” he said and Gabe smirked.

“So you’re _dating_ Gerard Way?” he asked and Pete nodded.

“Well, basically. Nothing’s official, we mostly just talk and text each other, but he had dinner with me and Bronx, and then the other night he came over with his daughter.”

“EWWW, you let a girl in the house?!” Bronx cried from at his feet. “Daddy, gross!”

Pete snickered. “She’s a cool girl though! I promise! She’s a little younger than you, so she played with the puppies a lot.”

Bronx whined. “But girls are gross.”

Gabe grinned. “Ah but you won’t think that one day, dude!” he said, scooping him up. “Girls are the bomb when you’re grown up! Give it like… ten years?” He shook his head. “Dude, you’ll think girls are awesome.” He frowned. “Hmm, okay, well maybe you will,” he said, grinning at Pete. “Maybe you’ll like boys like your dad-“

“Gabe, leave him alone,” Pete said, rolling his eyes.

Gabe laughed and let Bronx down, smiling as he ran after the dogs. “So really, how did you end up dating Gerard Way?” he asked and Pete sighed.

“We hooked up when I had that last big party,” he said and Gabe grinned. “And I think he tried to blow me off the next morning really, but I guess he figured out that my reaction wasn’t just pretending to be bummed, and we started talking and just… getting to know each other. And we hung out some. I mean, mostly we’ve just talked, and we haven’t slept together since that first time, but I think we’re dating.” He shrugged. “I don’t think he’s good with dating. Don’t really think he’s ever actually dated anybody,” he admitted. “Seems more like people have just decided to claim him in the past and he went with it.”

Gabe shrugged. “He’s hot. I mean, guys aren’t really my thing anymore-“

“Bullshit,” Pete said and Gabe smirked.

“He’s definitely pretty though. Kinda girly, but pretty.”

Pete smiled. “Bronx told him he looked like a girl.” He smiled fondly. “Gerard just said ‘well at least I’m a pretty one’ and I think I nearly pissed myself trying not to laugh.”

Gabe just eyed him. “You seem to like him a lot.”

Pete shrugged. “He gets me,” he said simply. “I mean, I’ve said that before and ended up being wrong, and maybe I am again, but… we talk. A lot. About everything and anything. Fuck, he’s told me stuff not another soul knows, he says. He just felt like he could talk about it with me because I tell him really personal things too. It’s easy to talk to him like I can’t with anybody. Not even my fucking therapist.”

Gabe poked him. “Dude, you’re fucking smitten,” he teased and Pete glared. “I didn’t even know you actually dated dudes.”

Pete chuckled. “Amusingly enough, I’ve only actually ever dated men with the last name Way,” he said and Gabe snickered.

“That’s amazing. You have a type, huh?” he asked, and Pete shoved him playfully.

“Fuck off,” he said, biting his lip bashfully as he walked out to grab Bronx again.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard rolled his eyes as he walked out with Bandit to where Pete was waiting in his SUV with Bronx in the backseat. “Pete, this is a terrible idea. We’re going to regret it,” he said as soon as he opened the back door to help Bandit get buckled in. 

Pete grinned. “I take Little Man to the beach all the time and never get shit for it. It’s cool,” he said, and Gerard snorted.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said, climbing into the front. “Hi, by the way,” he said, leaning across the console to kiss Pete, who smiled brightly.

“Hi,” he said, then eyed Gerard. “Why do you own a Hawaiian shirt?” he asked and Gerard smirked.

“When you’re an eccentric, middle aged comic book nerd slash rock star, you get to dress however the fuck you want,” he said and Pete rolled his eyes.

“Why would you _want_ to wear that ugly ass shirt?” he asked, and Gerard shrugged.

“Why do you wear ugly shoes?” he asked and Pete scoffed.

“What the fuck, my shoes are cool!” he said, and Gerard rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, if you’re an astronaut. Although, you’d be a good astronaut, you’re tiny and compact, you wouldn’t take up much space-“

“Yes, and you are a _giant_ ,” Pete said and Gerard smirked.

“To you I am.”

Pete just huffed. “Why do I like you? You’re an asshole.”

Gerard just shot him a crooked grin, pushing his oversized sunglasses up his nose. “Cause I’m fuckin’ pretty, that’s why, motherfucker.”

“Daddy, why does Gerard say so many ugly words?” Bronx asked and Gerard flushed, sending Pete an apologetic smile.

Pete just snickered. “Sorry buddy, Gerard just says a lot of bad words. His mom never taught him not to, I guess.”

“Grandma’s worse than daddy,” Bandit offered, kicking her feet. “She says way more bad words than daddy. Usually together all at one time, too!” she added and Gerard snickered.

“Well,” he glanced at Pete, “it is true, my mom is probably where I got my potty mouth.”

Bandit giggled. “Yep! Only daddy likes to say fuck and grandma likes to say shit,” she said and Pete rolled his eeys as Gerard winced.

“Bandit!”

Bronx gasped. “Ooooooh, you said bad words!” he said, pointing across the center at Bandit.

Bandit shot him a look. “At least I didn’t say ass,” she said, and Gerard turned around, glaring over the seat at her. “What? I didn’t say ass, daddy!” she said and Gerard sighed.

“Bandit, don’t say _any_ ugly words. Even if you’re just telling me you _didn’t say them_ ,” he stressed, glaring.

Bandit pouted, giving him a wide-eyed look. “I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said in a small voice and Gerard sighed, slumping back into his seat.

Pete just grinned, glancing at Gerard before looking back at the road. “Dude, you’re so screwed. You’ll never be able to really get mad at her if she keeps pouting and batting her eyelashes at you,” he teased and Gerard whined.

“Daughters have to be the scientific real-life equivalent of kryptonite,” he grumbled and Pete snickered.

“I think that’s just kids in general dude. My dude’s my kryptonite too. Always.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
After a mostly non-eventful and very enjoyable trip to the beach with both of their children (the only drama being Bandit getting impatient and shoving Bronx into the water when he took too long deciding if he wanted to get in or not), Gerard couldn’t help but feel surprisingly content on the drive back to his place. Bandit and Bronx were both asleep in the back, exhausted by their afternoon playing, and Gerard was pretty tired as well if the way his eyelids fluttering were anything to go by.

“You tired too, baby?” Pete asked, reaching out to tuck Gerard’s hair behind his ear at the red light.

Gerard grinned sleepily at him in the dim light of the setting sun. “Did you just call me ‘baby’, Wentz?” he asked and Pete grinned bashfully.

“I guess I did, Way,” he said, turning back as the light turned green. He was pleasantly surprised, however, when Gerard took his hand from his thigh and laced their fingers together on the center console. 

“I’m surprisingly okay with you calling me ‘baby’, Pete,” Gerard said softly but meaningfully. Pete just grinned and squeezed Gerard’s fingers in reply.

When they got to Gerard’s house, Pete shut off the car as they both turned to look into the back seat at the sleeping children. “Awwww,” Pete cooed, looking at the way Bandit was hugging a sand shovel. “That’s the strangest and cutest thing I’ve seen all day,” he said to Gerard, who just snorted softly.

“My kid is fuckin’ weird,” he said, turning to smile at Pete. “Can’t say I’d want her any other way though. Nothing like a weirdo,” he said, nodding at Pete. “I’m dating one, I am one, make sense my kid would be one-“

“Did _you_ seriously call _me_ weird, Gerard Way?” Pete asked, giving him a disbelieving look. “Seriously?”

Gerard smirked, leaning in to peck his lips. “Yep. But weirdos are the only cool people. Normal people suck more dick than Superman,” he said and Pete snickered, pecking Gerard’s lips.

“How did I end up dating a nerd?” he asked, reaching up to cup Gerard’s cheek. He stroked his thumb across Gerard’s cheek and groaned. “Your fucking cheekbones, man.” He leaned in to kiss him slowly. “You’re so pretty. And I don’t even mean that in a joking way or whatever, but like… you are so pretty to be a man.”

Gerard snorted. “I won an award once for being the hottest woman as voted by some magazine once. I’m pretty sure I’ll never be called handsome in my life. Only pretty.” He smiled and leaned in to peck Pete’s lips again. “But it’s okay.”

Pete snickered. “You aren’t that hot anymore. You lost weight and now you don’t have sweet tits like you used too,” he teased and Gerard giggled, pulling him into a real kiss, fingers curled around Pete’s neck as they slowly tasted each other, tongues twisting together wetly. 

After a few minutes, however, Gerard nearly fell asleep and jerked back. “Fuck, I’m sorry but I gotta go. If I wait much longer, I could drop Bandit on the way upstairs,” he said, pulling away reluctantly.

Pete shook his head. “It’s okay. You and the kids ran around so much I got tired watching from my spot being a shade-hogging pussy,” he said, making Gerard grin. 

“I had a great time, Pete,” he said seriously. He pulled Pete closer, hugging him over the console. “I am so happy I took a chance on you, you know? Everybody told me I shouldn’t be with you, but you’re incredible and you are so amazing for being understanding about my obligations as a parent.”

Pete rolled his eyes. “Gee, I just understand them. I mean, I love that you were down with letting me meet Bandit. I’m glad you guys both like Bronx too. I mean, I understand that we both have little kids and we both have obligations that are more important than dating. I think I should’ve dated a parent a while ago, you don’t get pissed when I have to cancel on you or when I want to take Bronx with us when we go out.”

Gerard just smiled, leaning in to kiss him sweetly once more. “Dude, we took our kids to the beach together and I’m pretty sure it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I mean, if Bandit keeps having violent urges and shoving your kid into the ocean, we may have problems,” he joked and Pete snickered.

“Hey, she isn’t so bad. Bronx thinks girls are gross, but he still played with Bandit without insisting on getting checked for girl-germs or anything, so that’s a win in my book,” he said and Gerard giggled softly, giving Pete an almost smitten look. “Dude, you are really into me,” Pete said with a smirk. “I get it, you can’t withstand the powers of my awesome-“

Gerard snorted. “Oh fuck off, Wentz,” he said, shoving him away some. “Alright, I got a certain little girl to get into bed before I pass out myself. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay Pete?” 

Pete nodded. “Goodnight, Gerard,” he said, then smiled. “Night, Bandit,” he whispered, blowing her a kiss that made Gerard snicker.

“Weirdo,” he confirmed as he unbuckled Bandit and scooped her up into his arms, shutting the door with his butt before turning to walk up the front walk. Pete waited until Gerard got inside before starting the car again, shooting one last glance back at Bronx to make sure he was okay before he left, surprisingly unable to stop smiling the whole way home.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard yawned, leaning against Mikey’s shoulder as he scribbled out a little sketch on the back of the information sheet they had been handed while they waited for the DJ to get in to interview them. “Meeeeehhhh too early for this shit,” he mumbled, turning to press a yawn into Mikey’s shirt. “Frankie stole my coffee,” he grumbled.

Mikey snorted. “Motherfucker stole mine too.”

Frank just giggled from his spot on the other side of Ray, sitting on front of two empty coffee cups and one he was drinking from. “I have small children, I get to steal coffee bitches,” he said proudly, earning a long, skinny middle finger aimed at him before Mikey dropped his arm tiredly, leaning against Gerard to keep them both propped up.

“Sorry guys!” The DJ burst in with way more enthusiasm than any of them. “Got held up, hey! It’s almost time, so just remember to speak up and speak clearly right here-“ he gestured to the microphones in front of them. “and we’ll be good!” he said as if they had never done a radio interview before. Gerard was grumpy enough without the man- Jeff- being stupidly enthusiastic and speaking to them like they were new to radio interviews. “Well everybody it’s the top of the hour and you know what that means! We’re here with the ever-popular My Chemical Romance, good morning guys!” he said, getting less enthusiastic replies. “So, how are you guys this morning?”

Gerard chuckled weakly. “Tired,” he said and the man smirked.

“Late night, huh guys?” he asked and Gerard rolled his eyes.

“Nah, just our buddy Frank hoarding the coffee,” he said, shooting Frank a half-hearted glare, too tired to really muster anger.

“Yeah, and the number of offspring produced isn’t an excuse,” Mikey added, glaring at him.

Jeff laughed. “Aww I was hoping for a good story, but no parties? No late night hotel trashing?” he asked, and Gerard yawned.

“Nah, we live here, so no hotels, and we’re too old to party. We’re all married and half of us have kids, so the party days are pretty much over, you know,” he said with a grin, earning another over-dramatic laugh.

“So, let’s get to the heart of the matter, you guys are back in the studio, right?” he asked and Gerard made a face.

“Well, we’re writing mostly, we’ll be in the studio soon though,” he said, then let Ray take over, explaining what they had worked on so far with Frank’s help, since they were the most awake of the four. Gerard nuzzled into Mikey’s shoulder again and turned back to his sketch, taking turns looking at it through one eye at a time, so that he didn’t have to use his face muscles to keep the other open at the same time.

It wasn’t until he heard his name that he realized he had totally zoned out. “What’re you doing over there, Gerard?” Jeff asked and Gerard smiled apologetically as he put down the pen he was holding.

“Just scribbling,” he said, shrugging.

“Hey, that’s right, you’re an artist right?” Jeff asked, smiling a cheesy, somewhat ‘car salesman’ smile that made Gerard uneasy.

“Yeah,” Gerard said, holding up the drawing for Jeff, who whistled. 

“Man, that’s awfully good. Is that you?” he asked, and Gerard smiled, looking down at the drawing of himself throwing the beach ball to Bronx and Bandit.

“Yeah, it’s a little family outing thing sort of from a few weeks back. Just a little trip to the beach,” he said, shrugging it off, only to feel his heart drop when he saw The Glint in Jeff’s eye. The one that said he had made a realization.

“Wouldn’t happen to be the one from the photos that surfaced of you in the company of a certain other musician and his son, would it?” he asked and Gerard made a face.

“It was just a day out with my kid, nothing to talk about,” he said and Jeff smiled.

“Ah, come on, it’s just idle curiosity-“

“And I said I don’t want to talk about it,” Gerard said suddenly, not at all ashamed of the one of his voice. He knew he sounded a little bitchy, but he didn’t care.

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Ahh come on, just be a good sport. It’s just a question.”

Gerard shot him a look. “Yeah, just one I’m not gonna answer. We’re here to talk about music, not my personal life.”

“Okay, okay, so no gossip then, but is that at least who is in the drawing with you-“

Gerard narrowed his eyes. “I’m seriously not talking about a fuckin’ day out with my kid, my boyfriend, and his kid. Here, drawing is put away-“ He shoved it down Mikey’s shirt. “Get on with relevant questions,” he said, giving Jeff a disarmingly polite smile.

It was only when Mikey groaned and Ray tensed that he realized he had just called Pete his boyfriend on live radio.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard asked Mikey to stay with home with Bandit when they got back to his place after the radio interview. He figured going to warn Pete at the start would be a better idea. When he got to Pete’s house and knocked at the door, he fought the part of his stomach that still twisted when Pete opened the door and gave him a sleepy smile.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Pete asked, grinning as he stepped out to hug Gerard. “Mmmm you are so worth the sleep I’m not getting now.”

Gerard sighed. “Pete… I did something bad,” he said sheepishly and Pete frowned up at him.

“What?”

Gerard smiled sadly. “Can we go talk?”

“Sure,” Pete said, leading Gerard inside. They went to sit on the couch and Pete turned to him, pulling his knees up. “So, what did you do?” he asked and Gerard groaned.

“Okay so… I had a little bit of a diva bitchfit during a radio interview this morning-“

“That’s never a good start,” Pete said apprehensively and Gerard nodded.

“Yeah, I kinda snapped and maybe kinda called you my boyfriend. On air,” he said sheepishly.

Pete cringed. “Well, that sucks,” he said, then shrugged. “But! On the other hand!” He jumped forward, shoving Gerard down to kiss him. “You totally called me your boyfriend,” he said and Gerard chuckled, shoving Pete to sit up again. “AND,” Pete added. “Now I can make sappy claims about you and nobody can try and guess what barely-legal starlet I’m fucking now!”

Gerard snorted. “Oh no, how dare you be angry,” he deadpanned and Pete smiled.

“Gerard, I’m pretty much crazy over you. Has nobody warned you how much I like to show off when I’m happy with somebody?” he teased and Gerard smirked.

“Yeah, I heard that, but there’s a big difference in a fucking twenty year old supermodel and a middle aged geek that’s older than you,” he said and Pete just shrugged.

“You’re a really _hot_ middle aged geek that’s older than me,” he said, making Gerard chuckle. “But hey, really,” Pete said softly, reaching out to grab Gerard’s hand. “It’s okay. I’m totally not angry or anything.”

Gerard chuckled. “You’re insane. Do you know the trouble this will cause us?” he asked and Pete smiled. “Pete, seriously, so much shit-“

“Yeah, but shit in that you called me your boyfriend as opposed to shit where you leave me or cheat on me or trash talk me behind my back,” Pete said simply. “I can deal with gossip if it’s about something nice for once.” He shrugged innocently. “You make me really happy, Gerard.”

Gerard felt his chest tighten as he saw how sincere Pete was. “Nobody should have ever hurt you like that, Pete,” he said sincerely. He leaned in to kiss Pete, who curled his fingers around Gerard’s shoulder. “You’re so fuckin’ special, and you have such a big heart and I cannot imagine hurting you on purpose,” he whispered against his lips. He curled his hand around Pete’s hip, kissing him again. “I hope I never hurt you, Pete. Really.”

Pete moaned as Gerard pulled him closer, kissing him with more intent than before. “There’s- there’s nobody else here,” Pete supplied and Gerard moaned, fully understanding why Pete felt like telling him that.

“Bedroom?” he asked, ducking down to bite Pete’s jaw, earning a groan.

“Oh God yes,” Pete choked out, and it was all that Gerard needed before he pulled Pete to his feet and, together, they stumbled down the hall to Pete’s bedroom.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Gerard bit his lip as Pete smiled at him from across the pillow, closing his eyes as Pete’s thumb swiped below his eye. “I’m sort of amazed at you being older than me, still,” Pete admitted. “I’ve got wrinkles like crazy and look at you. You look about twenty-three,” he whispered.

Gerard giggled softly. “I told you, I’m a motherfuckin’ vampire,” he said, turning to bite Pete’s wrist playfully.

Pete smirked. “Nuh-uh, cause you got tan like crazy in the sun. Seriously, three hours at the beach and you’re suddenly _tan_.”

Gerard smiled innocently. “Now you see why I wore long sleeves and pounds of white makeup every day on Warped that year. I tan like super models wish they did.” He shrugged. “Don’t really like it. Kills the goth mystique.”

Pete snickered. “Fuckin’ weirdo,” he said, leaning closer to peck Gerard’s lips.

Gerard curled his arm around Pete’s waist and held him close when the kiss ended. “Hey Pete,” he said softly, biting his lip worriedly. “Um, don’t like… freak out,” he said and Pete tensed. Gerard felt his cheeks turning pink and he looked down at the hand on his chest. “I think I love you.”

Pete groaned. “Oh my God, you asshole I thought you were gonna say something bad. Don’t do that!” he whined, thumping Gerard in the arm. “And man, the only reason I haven’t like… got your name tattooed on my ass is because I didn’t want to freak you out. I’ve probably loved you since like… the third time we talked on the phone,” he admitted with a bright smile.

Gerard scoffed. “They warned me that. Seriously, do you know how many people told me you would probably offer to have my babies within a week?” he asked and Pete shrugged, pulling him into a kiss.

“I’m a freak and I’m not ashamed. Loving you makes me happy and if that’s a problem, then others can suck it.” He smiled and stroked Gerard’s hair out of his face. “I love you a lot.”

Gerard hummed, closing his eyes as Pete’s palm cupped his cheek. “Love you too.” He leaned in to kiss Pete. Pete moaned against his lips and tugged Gerard closer, rolling onto his back so that Gerard was sprawled on top of him.

Just as things started to heat up again, however, Gerard’s phone ringing interrupted them. “Fuck,” he groaned and Pete laughed.

“Answer it, I can wait,” he said and Gerard gave him a filthy look as he leaned out of bed to grab his pants off the floor and fish out his phone.

“What?” he whined into it with a pout.

“Um, so I really don’t want to know why you’ve been at Pete’s all day now, but I need to go home. It’s almost night time, Gerard. I don’t want to know why or what you have been up to, but Bandit needs another babysitter who isn’t me. I want to go home. To my own home. That means not being _here_ ,” he stressed and Gerard groaned.

“Ah fuck, yeah okay I guess I better get back,” he agreed, hanging up with a huff. 

Pete smiled sadly, pulling Gerard into his arms. “Gotta go home?” he asked and Gerard nodded with a pout.

“Mikey is keeping Bandit,” he said and Pete chuckled.

“Alright,” he said, kissing Gerard’s pout. “Duty calls I guess,” he said softly. Gerard nodded, kissing him again. 

Once they were both redressed, Pete walked Gerard to the door, smirking when Gerard stopped and turned back. “Gonna be thinking about today all night,” Pete said, only to squeak when Gerard smirked and grabbed him by his shirt, snatching him into a heated kiss that left his knees weak.

“Mmmm, be thinking about that too, huh motherfucker?” Gerard asked with a smirk.

Pete just whimpered. “Mmmhmmm. Yep.” 

Gerard chuckled low in his throat, making Pete really wish they could go back to bed. “I’ll call you later,” he said, blowing Pete a kiss as he headed to the car.

Pete bit back a grin when Gerard opened the door. “Hey Gee!” he called, smiling brightly when Gerard looked back. “I love you.”

Gerard just laughed. “Love you too, Pete,” he called before climbing into his car.

As Gerard drove off, he knew things wouldn’t be easy. They were both going to face a lot of stress from being who they were and in a relationship, on top of having two children to worry about in the middle of it all, but in the end, he really did mean what he said.

In spite of the warnings, in spite of the genuine reasons he had to be worried, there was even more genuine love and understanding for Pete that overshadowed any worries he might have about their possible future together.


End file.
